Lawmakers Question Need to Renew Shelved Surveillance Power (1)

A Trump administration push to renew its dormant authority to collect U.S. call detail records is running into bipartisan skepticism on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Justice Department, FBI and National Security Agency officials told the Senate Judiciary Committee Nov. 6 that Congress should reauthorize several surveillance provisions in the USA FREEDOM Act set to expire Dec. 15.

But Republicans and Democrats on the panel questioned whether the NSA’s authority to collect U.S. call detail records—which the administration has said it no longer does—should be renewed.

If shutting down the NSA program was the responsible thing to do, “why is it responsible for us to reauthorize it?” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the committee chairman, asked.

The law permits U.S. intelligence agencies to collect business records more easily in national security investigations and place roving wiretaps on targets, as well as obtain certain call and text records from U.S. telecommunications companies. There are no bills pending in either the House or the Senate to reauthorize the law.

Graham said he supports permanently reauthorizing the other surveillance powers. But Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said lawmakers should include a sunset provision in any reauthorization to ensure Congress reviews the authorities.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also voiced reservations about renewing the call records authority.

“Its really not clear to me why a program with limited intelligence value and clear compliance problems should be reauthorized,” Feinstein, the panel’s ranking member, said. “We shouldn’t reauthorize it” without good reason, she added,

The NSA has stopped using the call records authority, under which it obtained phone numbers, call lengths, and other phone call identifiers on foreign parties. It shut down the program over compliance and data integrity issues and has deleted collected records, Susan Morgan, a senior NSA official, said during the hearing.

Justice Department, FBI and NSA officials urged the committee to renew all of the expiring surveillance authorities.

“The administration strongly supports reauthorizing these programs,” Brad Wiegmann, deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division at the Justice Department, told lawmakers.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he favored reauthorizing the roving wire taps, lone wolf and business records authorities.