Funding stopgap would give Congress more time to debate expiring surveillance provisions | TheHill – The Hill

The stopgap government funding measure on which the House is set to vote Tuesday would give Congress more time to debatea set of controversial government surveillance provisionscurrently set to expire by Dec. 15.

One last-minute addition to thecontinuing resolution (CR)would give Congress 90 more days to debate whether it wants to reauthorize the expiring provisions of the USA Freedom Act,adivisive bill that allowsthe government to access phone recordsof millions of Americans. The House is largely expected to pass the CR this week.

A source familiar with the debate around the USA Freedom Act told The Hill thatkey lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee quickly realized there was not enough time for Congress to decide what to do about the surveillance provisions before Dec. 15 when they sat down to negotiate this month.

The source said itwas "easier to tuck it in" to the continuing resolution. They noted the lawmakers felt "impeachment has gotten in the way" of the negotiation process around the expiring surveillance provisions and that a longer timeline would give them more space to hammer out an agreement without such an intensive time constraint.

"Yeah thats gonna be a no from me dog," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezSanders doubles down on Bolivia 'coup,' few follow suit Hillicon Valley: Progressives oppose funding bill over surveillance authority | Senators call for 5G security coordinator | Facebook gets questions over location tracking | Louisiana hit by ransomware attack Overnight Energy: Mark Ruffalo pushes Congress on 'forever chemicals' | Lawmakers spar over actor's testimony | House Dems unveil renewable energy tax plan | Funding for conservation program passes Senate hurdle MORE (D-N.Y.) tweeted on Monday, referring to extending the surveillance provisions for three months.

Ocasio-Cortez's input signaled there may be some broader progressive pushback to the CR on Tuesday.

For months, Congress has been gearingupfor a battle over whether to reauthorize expiring provisionsin the USA Freedom Act, a 2015 surveillance reform bill that passedfollowing whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations aboutthe enormous amount of sensitive information the government was collecting on everyday Americans.

The USA Freedom Act created a pared-down version of the mass phone records surveillance program that Snowden brought to light. And now, months after top intelligence officials revealed that theNational Security Agency (NSA)shuttered the program as it struggled to adhere to the reforms, lawmakers are tasked with deciding whetherthe government should retain the authority toreopen it at any point.

The Trump administration has asked Congress toallow the NSA to retain the abilityto start theprogram back up. But even Republican lawmakers have publicly questionedwhether they want to reauthorize a program that was shut down amid enormous technical difficulties.

While the USA Freedom Act contains multiple surveillance provisions that will be up for reauthorization, the phone records program remains the most divisive.

The House will vote Tuesday on thefunding stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown, pushing the deadline for an agreement from Nov. 21 to Dec. 20.

Updated at 7:04 p.m.

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Funding stopgap would give Congress more time to debate expiring surveillance provisions | TheHill - The Hill