The USA Freedom Act easily passed in the House Wednesday, as expected. But it faces an uphill battle from hereon out–in the Senate, both pro- and anti-NSA Republicans are likely to oppose it.
The White House-endorsed bill, which the House approved 338-88, was designed to somewhat curb NSA surveillance while extending the Patriot Act provisions set to expire in June. Among these are Section 215, which the government has used to justify its controversial phone metadata gathering.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell–along with Marco Rubio–is pushing for a clean extension of the Patriot Act, with no revisions. It’s not clear whether he’ll even allow a vote on the bill.
“We’re not taking up the House bill,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said Wednesday. “The program as designed is effective, and members are reluctant to change things that are effective just because of public opinion.”
Supporters of the USA Freedom Act say there’s no way a clean extension can pass, and Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Wyden have both promised to filibuster.
“I’m not ignorant to the threats we face, but a clean reauthorization would be irresponsible,” Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the author of the Patriot Act, told The Hill. “Congress never intended Section 215 to allow bulk collection. That program is illegal and based on a blatant misinterpretation of the law.”
“We have an obligation to protect the constitutional rights of every American,” said Ted Cruz. “The USA Freedom Act ends the federal government’s bulk collection of phone metadata from millions of law-abiding citizens. That’s the right thing to do.”
But other privacy advocates–including Rand Paul and the ACLU–would prefer to let the provisions sunset rather than extend the Patriot Act. Paul helped kill the legislation last year when it failed by two votes.
And since a federal court ruled the NSA’s metadata program illegal under the Patriot Act, even more reform advocates have turned their back on the legislation.
The Second Court of Appeals ruled that the government cannot in fact justify metadata collection under Section 215. This has left privacy advocates wondering whether passing the USA Freedom Act would ultimately be a step backward.
“In light of this ruling, Congress must not proceed with the latest version of the USA Freedom Act,” Justin Amash wrote on his Facebook shortly after the ruling. “While limiting certain types of bulk collection, the latest USA Freedom Act would authorize bulk collection of Americans’ records for the first time, thereby undoing some of the progress resulting from the Second Circuit’s decision.”
Earlier this week, organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Sunlight Foundation released statements revoking their support for the bill.
