Feinstein said she plans to hold committee hearings soon on the Obama proposal. Senate Dems support NSA proposal

The National Security Agency’s decision to end bulk collection of phone records has won support from key Senate Democrats, although concern remains about a proposed House bill to reform U.S. intelligence-gathering programs.

Under a proposal expected to be formally unveiled by the Obama administration this week, the NSA will no longer keep broad records of Americans’ phone calls. Instead, that data would remain under the control of the phone companies. The NSA would need to go to a federal judge and obtain a court order to access the records.


Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised President Barack Obama for changing in the hugely controversial NSA policy.

( Also on POLITICO: House Intel unveils reforms)

“The president today indicated his support for a plan to reform the phone records metadata program — authorized under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act — to remove NSA control and direct access of call records. Under the plan, records would remain under the control of the telecommunications companies that generate them, and each query would be subject to court review,” Feinstein said in a statement.

“I believe the president’s plan is a worthy effort. I have said before that I am open to reforming the call records program as long as any changes meet our national security needs and address privacy concerns, and that any changes continue to provide the government with the means to protect against future terrorist attacks.”

Feinstein said she plans to hold Intelligence Committee hearings soon on the Obama proposal, as well as a bipartisan plan by Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the chairman and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

( Also on POLITICO: Paul takes some credit on NSA plan)

Obama pledged two months ago to overhaul the NSA surveillance programs following their public disclosure by Edward Snowden. The size and scope of the NSA eavesdropping stunned lawmakers and the American public alike, and led to calls from Democrats and Republicans for new privacy safeguards.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an Intelligence Committee member who has been engaged in a furious behind-the-scenes fight with NSA and U.S. intelligence officials over the surveillance programs, was pleased by the White House proposal.

“For years, the executive branch said, collecting all the phone records on law abiding Americans was absolutely vital to our security. And we kept saying, it wasn’t. Now, it’s clear they pretty much reached our position,” Wyden told reporters on Tuesday. “So I’m certainly encouraged, and if you look at back in the last few years, there were only a handful of members who in effect were pushing back against the executive branch. We made a lot of headway. There are obviously details that need to be addressed.”

Wyden said he believed government officials should be required to get a warrant in order to obtain phone records, although he also acknowledged that serious national security or threats of a terrorists attack need to be addressed on an emergency basis.

“For example, I continue to believe in most instances, the government should get a warrant,” Wyden added. “But I do believe that when you are talking about emergency circumstances, there already is a procedure for something like that.”

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), another Intelligence Committee member heavily involved in the high-profile clash with the NSA, also said he was “encouraged” by the outlines of the new proposal.

“I will review the details of the president’s proposal, but I am encouraged by reports that he has embraced my approach to ending the dragnet collection of Americans’ private phone records,” Udall said in a statement. “The Constitution is clear and Coloradans agree: the ongoing bulk collections of Americans’ call records is an unacceptable invasion of our privacy that doesn’t make us safer and must be brought to an end. I look forward to seeing the president’s full proposal and continuing my work to defend the Bill of Rights and keep America secure.”

Manu Raju contributed to this report.