The director of the National Security Agency will brief lawmakers on the agency's surveillance programs Thursday after the House nearly voted to curtail the agency’s powers last week.

NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander will answer House members’ questions about the agency’s surveillance activities in a classified, members-only briefing on Thursday, according to a meeting invitation from the House Intelligence Committee obtained by The Hill.

Alexander’s latest Q&A session comes after the House last week narrowly defeated an attempt by Rep. Justin Amash Justin AmashOn The Trail: How Nancy Pelosi could improbably become president History is on Edward Snowden's side: Now it's time to give him a full pardon Trump says he's considering Snowden pardon MORE (R-Mich.) that would have prevented the NSA from collecting bulk telephone data in a 205-217 vote.

The briefing is being held as lawmakers prepare to head back to their districts for the month-long August recess, where many expect to get questions from constituents about the NSA.

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Last week’s House vote united libertarian and conservative Republicans with liberal Democrats who are angry about the reach of the NSA’s phone and Internet surveillance programs. The snooping was disclosed last month in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

House Republican leaders the Intelligence Committee chiefs and the White House mounted an aggressive lobbying effort to defeat the amendment. Alexander held a hastily arranged briefing for members last week urging them to vote against it.



Opponents of the NSA’s surveillance activities were encouraged by the close vote and have vowed to push forward to curtail NSA’s data collection activities.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on the NSA's data collection programs, where a top Justice Department official said the government could legally track the location of every cellphone in the United States.

On Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper de-classified new documents on the programs authorized by the Patriot Act, including a court order requiring a phone company to turn over its customers' call data.