Senate Inches Closer to Reforming NSA Surveillance Powers

Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Senate advanced the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday, putting lawmakers one step closer to passing legislation to reform the NSA’s domestic surveillance program.

With a vote of 83-14, the Senate cleared a major procedural hurdle by invoking cloture on the USA Freedom Act, which has passed the House and would end the government’s bulk collection of telephone data, instead requiring the information be stored by the telephone companies.

But a fight looms over amendments championed by hawkish Republicans in the Senate. The upper chamber is expected to vote on amendments to the USA Freedom Act and potentially on final passage Tuesday afternoon.

“We need to do what we can today to ensure this legislation is as strong as it can be,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

Among those amendments are extending the period of transition from moving the data collection from the government to the telephone companies to 12 months, instead of 6 months; creating a certification process to ensure the telephone companies have the proper technology for the government to query the database; and requiring telephone companies to disclose its data storage policies to the government.

But the most controversial amendment will likely be one that would strip the bill of a provision requiring the declassification any significant decisions issued by the FISA court. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court oversees requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the U.S. by federal law enforcement agencies.

If amended, the legislation would return to the House, which would have to approve the new changes. But Democrats have warned against adding amendments to the measure, saying it could complicate its final passage.

“The Senate should not get into a game where they start adding amendments to this piece of legislation that then requires House consideration again,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

“There’s no guarantee that you come any closer to putting in place proper surveillance tools and architecture in place for the U.S. if you start to tinker with amendments,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-California. “They’re playing with a hand grenade.”

Key parts of the PATRIOT Act, including the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, expired at midnight Sunday, but passage of the USA Freedom Act would implement a reformed program.

The USA Freedom Act would require intelligence officials to obtain a court-order from the FISA court in order to query the phone companies’ database.

Any records provided to the government would be limited to so-called “two hops,” meaning intelligence officials can access the records of people who received or placed calls to suspected terrorists, even if they’re not suspected terrorists themselves. The current program allows officials to access information “three hops” removed from terror suspects.

The USA Freedom Act also creates a dedicated panel of privacy and civil liberties experts at the FISA courts. It also extends the “lone wolf” and roving wiretaps provisions, which expired at midnight Sunday, until the end of December 2019.

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