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| Clock winds down on key NSA surveillance law – live updates | Clock winds down on key NSA surveillance law – live updates |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| 11.28am ET16:28 | |
| The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs has his eyes trained on the Senate floor, where the debate over government surveillance... isn’t happening at the moment, as the chamber plods through amendments to the trade bill. | |
| Bob Corker is now calling the currency manipulation amendment a second bailout to the auto industry | |
| 11.19am ET16:19 | |
| Key conservative think tank supports House bill | |
| Perhaps the most influential think tank for Congressional Republicans has come out with a grudging endorsement of the USA Freedom Act, Guardian national security editor Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) writes: | |
| The Heritage Foundation’s position, released amidst widespread confusion and speculation about what the Senate will actually do on surveillance, is long, convoluted and mealy-mouthed. But it places the Freedom Act, which jettisons bulk domestic phone collection while keeping the rather bulky remainder of an expiring provision of the Patriot Act, in the context of vigilance against terrorism and respect for civil liberties, the sweet spot for wavering conservatives. | |
| Heritage’s account of bulk domestic phone surveillance’s demonstrated utility against terrorism at times becomes dubious. The phrase “contributed to” has to carry a ton of freight for its contention “the authorities under Section 215 and 702 of the PATRIOT Act has contributed to thwarting 54 total international terrorist plots in 20 countries” to be true. | |
| Ultimately, however, Heritage considers the surveillance-reform bill to be the viable option the alternatives it considers aren’t, Spencer writes. Spencer quotes from the Heritage statement: | |
| The Act is the only legislative vehicle that has passed a chamber of Congress. It is not perfect and could be improved. For example, there should be a uniform period of time for carriers to maintain the telephone metadata. Another could be designating a specific format in which the carriers must maintain the data to allow more expeditious analysis once the data is appropriately obtained. The USA FREEDOM Act strikes a balance between maintaining our national security capabilities and protecting privacy and civil liberties, and this should always be the goal. | |
| Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, wants to preserve all current surveillance powers, either for several years or, if necessary, several weeks, to buy time until he can come up with a majority coalition, Spencer continues: | |
| Heritage, striking a sympathetic tone to McConnell, gently replies that since the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled bulk collection illegal, McConnell’s proposal would “likely result in the federal district court judge who now has the case enjoining the government from continuing the program.” | |
| McConnell could still pull this out. The Freedom Act could still lose – but if it does, all of the expiring sections of the Patriot Act are lost with it, leading to an outcome McConnell really doesn’t want; something civil libertarians have dreamed about for 15 years; and the FBI losing a broad communications surveillance power currently masquerading as a records-collection power. | |
| Expect McConnell’s opponents, both Democrats and Republicans, to use Heritage’s imprimatur as a cudgel against him. | |
| 10.50am ET15:50 | 10.50am ET15:50 |
| Good morning and welcome to our live blog coverage of what could be the demise of surveillance law as we know it – barring a last-minute move from the Senate. | Good morning and welcome to our live blog coverage of what could be the demise of surveillance law as we know it – barring a last-minute move from the Senate. |
| Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell has been looking for a way to extend a key provision of the Patriot Act, known as Section 215, before the Senate breaks for the Memorial Day holiday (the recess is supposed to begin today, although they could go into the weekend). | Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell has been looking for a way to extend a key provision of the Patriot Act, known as Section 215, before the Senate breaks for the Memorial Day holiday (the recess is supposed to begin today, although they could go into the weekend). |
| The legislators are not scheduled to come back until 1 June, hours past a midnight deadline for Section 215 to expire. | The legislators are not scheduled to come back until 1 June, hours past a midnight deadline for Section 215 to expire. |
| Since 2006, the NSA has secretly used Section 215 to collect US phone data in bulk. The statute also permits the FBI to collect business records or other “tangible things” deemed relevant to an ongoing counter-terrorism or espionage investigation. | Since 2006, the NSA has secretly used Section 215 to collect US phone data in bulk. The statute also permits the FBI to collect business records or other “tangible things” deemed relevant to an ongoing counter-terrorism or espionage investigation. |
| Surveillance hawks warn that the loss of 215 would dangerously cripple the government’s intelligence-collection ability. Skeptics point out that independent reviews have not found any instances of the program stopping a terror plot and say it infringes privacy. | Surveillance hawks warn that the loss of 215 would dangerously cripple the government’s intelligence-collection ability. Skeptics point out that independent reviews have not found any instances of the program stopping a terror plot and say it infringes privacy. |
| Can McConnell slip a temporary extension through? The majority leader is facing a time crunch, with a bill to boost the president’s trade-negotiating authority also on the docket. | Can McConnell slip a temporary extension through? The majority leader is facing a time crunch, with a bill to boost the president’s trade-negotiating authority also on the docket. |
| McConnell also appears to be losing a fight to keep his colleagues from supporting competing surveillance legislation passed overwhelmingly last week in the House. That bill, the USA Freedom Act, would end the bulk collection of phone records. | McConnell also appears to be losing a fight to keep his colleagues from supporting competing surveillance legislation passed overwhelmingly last week in the House. That bill, the USA Freedom Act, would end the bulk collection of phone records. |
| What will McConnell pull out of his hat? | What will McConnell pull out of his hat? |
| Updated at 10.57am ET | Updated at 10.57am ET |