The USA Freedom Act, which would rein in the government’s surveillance capabilities, now faces a series of votes that could significantly weaken it

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A bill to rein in the US government’s surveillance capabilities cleared another hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday, even as its opponents planned new attempts to block its passage.

The USA Freedom Act, which would end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records and has already been passed by the House of Representatives, made it through a procedural “cloture” vote 83 to 14.

Senate ends debate on NSA surveillance powers and USA Freedom Act – live Read more

It now faces a series of votes on amendments that civil liberties advocates say could significantly weaken the bill.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, has vigorously campaigned against surveillance reform and is seeking to reverse key changes the USA Freedom Act would institute.

He and fellow Republican Richard Burr, the Senate intelligence committee chairman, wish to extend the time it would take for phone records to be transferred from the government’s custody to that of private telecom companies by a period of 12 months.

That would in effect keep the bulk collection program in place for another year. The USA Freedom Act currently allows for a six-month transition period.

McConnell has also filed amendments that would require the US intelligence chief to certify the implementation of the new phone-records regime, demand notification of changes made by telecom companies to the kinds of call records they generate and reduce transparency in the process by which the secret Fisa court reviews the government’s surveillance orders.

McConnell’s prospects of amending the House bill looked questionable on Tuesday, with lawmakers arguing against meddling with the issue any further and arguing for quickly bringing to an end the current lapse in the Patriot Act’s anti-terror provisions.

California senator Diane Feinstein, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, said she would not support any changes at this point.

“I think it should be passed as is if we want to get it back in operation, and I think it’s foremost that this be operable,” Feinstein told the Guardian, adding that she would be open to amending it at a later time. “We could amend it … but we need to get this done now.”

Nevada senator Dean Heller, one of the Republican co-sponsors of the USA Freedom Act, also said the Senate should refrain from advancing changes that would be unpalatable to the House.

“I don’t want the program to go away, but I think the USA Freedom Act is the correct way to go,” Heller told reporters. “If you amend the kill, you kill the bill.”

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the USA Freedom Act last month and has cautioned the Senate against making changes that would remove the House’s support. It is unlikely that leaders would be able to move legislation that had been significantly amended by the Senate, the second-ranking House Republican said Tuesday.

It is unlikely that leaders would be able to move legislation that had been significantly amended by the Senate, the second-ranking House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, said on Tuesday.

“It would bring a real challenge inside the House,” the House majority leader told reporters. “The best way to make sure America’s protected is for the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act.”

Congress was originally set to resolve the surveillance debate by 1 June, when key provisions of the Patriot Act – the law that has authorized the NSA’s programs since the Bush administration - expired. But McConnell spent recent weeks pushing for a full renewal of the Patriot Act instead of bringing up and debating the House’s USA Freedom bill.

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, a longtime critic of the sweeping surveillance, then forced the law’s expiration on Sunday night.