SurveillanceHouse-approved NSA reform bill fails in Senate
Earlier this morning (Saturday), for the second time in less than a year, the Senate rejected a bill to end the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk collection of American phone metadata records. The House-approved USA Freedom Act failed to reach the 60-vote threshold required to bring the bill to a vote on the floor (the vote was 57-42 in favor – three votes short). The bill’s opponents used different procedural maneuvering, lasting until the early morning hours Saturday, to block the bill itself from coming to a vote. The failure to pass the House bill – or any bill dealing with bulk collection – means that Senate, when it reconvenes on 31 May, will have only a few hours to decide the fate of Section 215 of the Patriot Act – the section which governs data collection and which has given the NSA and FBI broad domestic surveillance powers – before it expires on midnight that day. Senate GOP caucus is deeply divided on the issue, but House Republicans and Democrats exhibit a rare accord.
Earlier this morning (Saturday), for the second time in less than a year, the Senate rejected a bill to end the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk collection of American phone metadata records.
The House-approved USA Freedom Act failed to reach the 60-vote threshold required to bring the bill to a vote on the floor (the vote was 57-42 in favor – three votes short). The bill’s opponents used different procedural maneuvering, lasting until the early morning hours Saturday, to block the bill itself from coming to a vote.
The failure to pass the House bill – or any bill dealing with bulk collection – means that Senate, when it reconvenes on 31 May, will have only a few hours to decide the fate of Section 215 of the Patriot Act – the section which governs data collection and which has given the NSA and FBI broad domestic surveillance powers – before it expires on midnight that day.
The House supporters of the bill – and those who supported the bill in the Senate – were hoping that the looming 31 May deadline would be a sufficient leverage to achieve a majority for the bill in the Senate, but they miscalculated.
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See also:
House overwhelmingly votes for overhauling NSA phone metadata bulk collection program, 14 May 2015
Court rules NSA bulk metadata collection exceeded Patriot Act’s Section 215, 8 May 2015
NSA accepts proposed Congressional curbs on bulk data collection, 6 May 2015
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The Washington Post notes that the USA Freedom Act’s compromise called for ending of NSA bulk surveillance but for the retention of a modified Section 215 through 2019. The modified section would allow the collection of “business records” outside normal judicial warrant and subpoena channels and the continuation of a massive amount of U.S. communications metadata – but also stipulated that that data would be retained by the private carriers and would be available to government agencies only after obtaining a warrant.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled House by a 338-88 margin last week, but Senate Republicans were unconvinced that letting telecom companies – rather than the NSA — take responsibility for retaining collected data was such a good idea.
