Monday: NSA, regulations

Senators will debate the USA Freedom Act Monday, after the legislation overcame a key procedural hurdle Sunday night. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) moved to end debate on the House-backed reform bill before the Senate wrapped up a rare Sunday session, setting up a procedural vote for Tuesday morning. 

{mosads}The legislation passed the House by a 338-88 vote last month. It would effectively prevent the National Security Agency (NSA) from collecting bulk metadata about the phone numbers people dial and when their calls are placed. Instead, the agency would have to ask private companies for a narrow set of records tied to a particular case. 

McConnell and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, want to amend the legislation. But, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a staunch critic of the NSA in the House, warned senators against adding amendments that could potentially weaken the bill in the eyes of its supporters. 

“On the House side there’s not support for a more watered down version of the Freedom Act,” he told reporters. “If they want to get something passed through the House they need to make it better not worse.”

The Senate is expected to convene at noon, before restarting debate on the USA Freedom Act around 1 p.m. Votes currently aren’t scheduled. 

Meanwhile, House lawmakers will convene at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. They’re expected to take up a handful of non-controversial bills, as well as a bill that would exempt fishery management actions from environmental analysis requirements and instead establish new rules. 

Votes in the House aren’t expected until 6:30 p.m.