White House calls on Senate to pass spying reforms

The White House is urging the Senate to pass reforms to government spying legislation next week before heading off for its Memorial Day break.

The Senate must pass the bill or face the consequences of being responsible for “weakening our nation’s security,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Friday.

Key provisions in the Patriot Act, which authorizes the surveillance, expire June 1. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has introduced a straight renewal of the measure in a way that bypasses the usual committee process.

But momentum is building for significant reforms to the government’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data, especially after an appeals court ruling last week that found the program unlawful.

A bipartisan compromise bill known as the USA Freedom Act, which would place limitations on the government’s ability to collect the data, passed the House with strong bipartisan support earlier this week.

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