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Senate Votes to Renew Federal Surveillance Powers

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Senate has passed legislation that would extend a
   series of expired federal surveillance tools designed to help law
   enforcement officials track suspected terrorists, moving one step
   closer to reviving them.

   The legislation passed the Senate 80-16 Thursday. The bill is a
   bipartisan compromise that has the support of Attorney General William
   Barr, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch
   McConnell.

   Yet it's unclear how quickly the legislation can become law. The House
   passed the bill in Marchbut will have to pass it againbecause ofa
   change in the Senate. The House has been holding votes on a limited
   basis duringthe coronavirus pandemic.

   President Donald Trump has said he will support the compromise, but GOP
   senators who are longtime skeptics of federal surveillance have tried
   to change his mind. They want him to veto it.

   The bill would renew the expired surveillance authorities and impose
   new restrictions to try to appease civil liberties advocates in both
   parties.

   The provisions at issue allow the FBI to get a court order for business
   records in national security investigations, to conduct surveillance
   without establishing that the subject is acting on behalf of an
   international terrorism organization, and to more easily continue
   eavesdropping on a subject who has switched cellphone providers to
   thwart detection.

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