With the lame-duck Congress failing to advance bipartisan surveillance-reform legislation, President Obama faces an uphill climb next year with his plans to end the National Security Agencys mass collection of phone records.
The contentious debate will be renewed in the new Congress as Republicans take control of the Senate, after senators fell two votes short of the 60 needed to proceed on the USA Freedom Act on Nov. 15. Administration aides are saying they dont expect any more attempts to bring back the bill this year.
But analysts say Mr. Obama does have one bit of leverage with Republicans: The current law authorizing the NSAs bulk collection of phone records expires on June 1, and many GOP lawmakers want to keep the program in some fashion.
The clock is ticking on authorization, said Mike Daniels, a specialist on technology and security at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. The government clearly needs to do some of this [data collection] to protect the country. Clearly the NSA and the intel community want it desperately.
So do powerful Republicans such as incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who argued that the USA Freedom Act would have curtailed the governments counterterrorism operations.
The White House didnt respond to inquiries about the administrations plans for resurrecting the legislation.
The proposal, supported by the administration, would have banned the bulk collection of Americans phone records in the wake of the infamous revelations by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The bill would have required the government to show reasonable suspicion that a target of surveillance is associated with international terrorism.
The measure also would have limited the scope of data collection by not allowing the government to collect records relating to a geographic region or a particular service provider.
Another factor playing into the debate is the widespread concern in recent months about the potential for lone wolf terrorists inspired and/or trained by the Islamic State group to launch attacks on the U.S.
Those expiring provisions are going to provide the kind of pressure or wedge issue that surveillance advocates just might need to be able to actually get a deal, said Patrick Eddington, a former CIA analyst and a specialist on civil liberties at the Cato Institute. Thats where this is going to play itself out.
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Obama facing uphill battle in curbing NSA snooping