The Senate blocked a bill this past weekend that would have ended the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records, though the bill received strong approval in the House earlier this month.
The NSA program expires June 1, but a short-term measure to keep the program alive past that date also failed.
The National Security Agency is beginning to wind down its phone recording collection after the Senate didn’t come to an agreement on a path forward to extend or alter the program ahead of its expiration next month.
Unless there is a compromise reached when the Senate returns to session on May 31, some of the surveillance tools of the agency will come to an end on midnight of that day.
Late Friday night, Senate Republicans blocked a bill entitled the USA Freedom Act which would have ended the enormous collecting arm of the NSA. It fell three votes short of the necessary 60 to pass. Read more at the New York Times.
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Senate Democrats, House Republicans, and House Democrats are now in agreement on what is needed to protect the US from external threats while preserving civil liberties. It is time for Senate Republicans to get with the program.