SurveillanceFISA court reauthorizes NSA’s bulk metadata collection until 1 June

More than a year after President Barack Obama announced that he will work with Congress to curb the National Security Agency’s (NSA) dragnet surveillance program which collects large amounts of U.S. phone metadata, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved last week a government request to continue allowing the agency to operate its bulk data collection until 1 June, when the legal authority for the program is set to expire. The required reauthorization of the program every ninety days has already been granted four other times — March, June, September, December — since Obama made his announcement in January 2014.

White House officials say that Obama will not unilaterally end the program, urging Congress to play its part. “While the administration waits for the Congress to act, it has continued to operate the program with … important modifications in place,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement released last Friday.

Think Progress reports that in 2014 the White House placed limits on the NSA’s domestic surveillance program, saying the agency could collect phone metadata but not store them, and that the agency would need a court order before accessing the database except in true emergencies. The White House also restricted the NSA from searching through the database for phone calls involving U.S. citizens and residents who have not called or been called by suspected terrorists.

In November 2014 the Senate failed to approve the USA Freedom Act aimed at reforming how the NSA collects and stores phone metadata. Some Republican lawmakers feared that the measure would limit the NSA’s ability to gather intelligence on terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Congress is expected to reintroduce versions of the Freedom Act this year, but on 1 June, core parts of the Patriot Act, including Section 215 which grants the NSA authority to conduct its surveillance program, are set to expire.

Critics fear that failure of Congress to place limitations on Section 215 before 1 June would allow for a clean reauthorization of the act.

“Congress has a limited window before the June 1 sunset to enact legislation that would implement the President’s proposed path forward for the telephony metadata program, while preserving key intelligence authorities,” Earnest said in his statement. “The administration continues to stand ready to work with the Congress on such legislation and would welcome the opportunity to do so.”