Against the wishes of Senate Republican leaders, Congress on Tuesday passed a retooled version of U.S. surveillance powers that have been in place since 9/11. It’s also, notes The Washington Post, the first legislative overhaul approved “in response to the 2013 disclosures of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.” In purely political terms, the vote is a win for Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul, who rolled over fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader who has endorsed Paul’s presidential campaign.
The New Yorker, meanwhile, has a clear and helpful takeout on the particulars of the surveillance debate.
“As the Second Circuit found, the N.S.A. treated the entire universe of American phone records as one tangible thing, broadened relevance to the point of meaninglessness, and ignored the limitations that the law placed on what counted as a specific investigation, to the point that ‘the government effectively argues that there is only one enormous “anti-terrorism” investigation, and that any records that might ever be of use in developing any aspect of that investigation are relevant to the overall counterterrorism effort.’ In other words," The New Yorker continues, "the N.S.A., despite having enormous legitimate powers, was breaking the law. McConnell seemed outraged that anyone should suggest that it stop.
"McConnell also seemed oblivious to the public’s unhappiness about bulk collection, the government’s own conclusion that the practice had not actually foiled any terrorist plots, and to arguments from his own party’s libertarian faction. Paul had argued that the language of the Freedom Act is still too expansive and leaves potential for abuse that Congress lacks the will to prevent—and McConnell has done his best to prove him right."
