Surveillance dispute remains unresolved

The unresolved struggle over giving the Bush administration short-term authority for eavesdropping on terrorist suspects cast a shadow over the August recess on Thursday, as lawmakers from both parties reserved the right to stall adjournment if an acceptable deal is not reached.

{mosads}Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee, spent much of the day huddled with panel members negotiating his offer of a six-month fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested that the chamber would stay in session past Friday to ensure that Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Michael McConnell’s concerns are addressed.

“There is no choice. We should stay here until we get this done,” McConnell told radio reporters. “We cannot leave town without passing this FISA modification.”

Two likely deal-breakers loomed large. One focuses on the Democratic plan’s mandate for a warrant when tapping foreign targets who make a “significant” number of calls to the U.S., a standard that Republicans consider unclear. Another entails a GOP proposal to give exclusive supervision of wiretapping inside the U.S. to the DNI and the attorney general — a move Democrats staunchly oppose.

Even as the GOP laid down its marker, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) drew his own line in the sand. Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Feingold continues to push for a quicker sunset to the FISA fix, raising the specter of liberal and conservative members moving to block a deal once it finally is reached.

Feingold joined Sens. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in sending out a letter Thursday that outlined their conditions.

“We are reluctant to amend FISA without assurances that the administration will actually follow the law,” they wrote.