White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Thursday called on the Senate to quickly pass a House bill to reform and extend domestic surveillance authorities that expire at the end of May, and said failing to do so would put at risk the authorities the government uses to keep Americans safe.
“If the Senate fails to pass the USA Freedom Act before leaving for the Memorial Day break, it risks allowing critical national security authorities to expire,” he said.
Earnest said the USA Freedom Act as passed by the House is a “reasonable compromise” that improves privacy protections but still preserves surveillance authorities. The bill would specifically stop the National Security Agency from collecting bulk data on phone calls made by millions of Americans.
Earnest may have been thinking of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., when he said the government needs the tools to stop terrorist threats. Paul spoke for more than 10 hours Wednesday night against extending any surveillance authority for the NSA.
“If some Senate Republicans believe, as the president does, that we must be vigilant in the face of terrorist threats, it would be irresponsible to let these authorities lapse, even for a few days,” he said.
“The American people expect their elected representatives to take responsible action to protect the country,” Earnest added.
One of the bigger hurdles to passing the USA Freedom Act has been Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who favors a straight extension of current authorities. However, McConnell said Tuesday that he would allow a vote on the House bill.
Still, that could lead to a complicated process, as McConnell said if the House bill fails, other options, including a short extension of current authorities, might be needed.
Earnest dodged questions about whether Obama could support a short-term extension, and repeated that the Senate should pass the House bill.
