McConnell Appears Set to Quietly Suffocate Long-Debated F.B.I. Surveillance Bill

The Senate majority leader has long been a strong supporter of extending Patriot Act provisions. This year, he’s letting them remain lapsed.

McConnell Appears Set to Quietly Suffocate Long-Debated F.B.I. Surveillance Bill Merlin_175577148_12166e6c-1ebb-455c-b2ec-21add7ccafbb-articleLarge

McConnell Appears Set to Quietly Suffocate Long-Debated F.B.I. Surveillance Bill Merlin_175577148_12166e6c-1ebb-455c-b2ec-21add7ccafbb-articleLarge

Every few years since Congress passed the Patriot Act to bolster F.B.I. surveillance powers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, parts of it came up for renewal and national security hawks darkly warned that even briefly letting them lapse would unacceptably endanger America.
This year is different.
Those provisions expired months ago, but one of the biggest surveillance supporters in Congress, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, has single-handedly brought the process of extending them to a halt.
After the House and Senate passed slightly different versions of a bill in May, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed a group of House members to a conference committee to reconcile them. But Mr. McConnell has not appointed any senators to it, and the process has been stuck there ever since.
On Thursday, Mr. McConnell closed the Senate for its annual August vacation, meaning that the legislation will remain on ice for at least another month. He has given no sign that he intends to move forward when Congress briefly reconvenes before adjourning again ahead of the November election.

Mr. McConnell’s office has declined to answer questions about why he is keeping the measure in indefinite limbo. But others involved in the process have suggested that Mr. McConnell may be paralyzed by two factors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/us/politics/mcconnell-fisa-bill.html

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McConnell Appears Set to Quietly Suffocate Long-Debated F.B.I. Surveillance Bill

McConnell Appears Set to Quietly Suffocate Long-Debated F.B.I. Surveillance Bill

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