Can the Senates new Republicans usher in NSA surveillance reform?

With the snow-capped Montana mountains behind him, flannel-clad Steve Daines blasted the National Security Agencys sweeping surveillance practices. I stood up to the Washington establishment in support of [a bill] to stop the NSA from collecting the records of innocent Americans, he said. Big government can take away our freedoms.

That was Mr. Daines campaign ad. And the message clearly resonated Daines, a former House representative from Montana, won his election to the Senate.

Security and privacy became hot-button issues in political races across the country after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden disclosed the spy agencys collection of millions of Americans call records. With several national polls showing Americans support curbing the controversial program, many wannabe senators, like Daines, spoke out about the need to protect civil liberties.

Now, 13 new senators are here in Washington and their votes will be crucial in the upcoming debates over surveillance reform.

Congress failed to pass a reform bill last year, despite President Obamas urging and recommendations from government-appointed privacy and civil liberties boards to end the domestic call record bulk collection program. In a Republican-controlled Congress, however, the politics of privacy are even more complex.

After the November elections, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged his Republican colleagues to oppose advancing the USA Freedom Act because it could hurt the fight against terrorism. With the threat from the Islamic State in the news, the vote to debate the surveillance reform bill fell short by just two votes. This time around, privacy advocates are warily watching the fresh crop of senators all Republican but one.

If they stay consistent with their past pro-privacy positions, they could very well tip the precarious balance in the upper chamber in favor of reform.

Theres a pretty short list of issues where our phones start ringing off the hook here, Daines told Passcode. Guns, he says, is a key one and when you start looking at surveillance and the federal government overreach, our phone really starts ringing.

This year, the pressures on: A key provision of the Patriot Act the NSA says provides the legal authority for the domestic spying program is set to sunset in June.

Its something the Republican Party is going to have to debate, says Mark Jaycox, legislative analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The question is going to be, can new members convince the leadership that these authorities need to be reformed?

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Can the Senates new Republicans usher in NSA surveillance reform?