Senate leader backed into a corner in Patriot Act battle

Read the full story here:
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/242133-senate-leader-backed-into-corner-on-patriot-act-renewal

Mitch McConnell is in a bind.The Senate majority leader opposes changes to the National Security Agency (NSA), but his proposal to reauthorize surveillance powers under the Patriot Act “cleanly” is unlikely to pass the upper chamber.After the House increased the pressure Wednesday with an overwhelming vote in favor of an NSA reform bill, McConnell (R-Ky.) began to look for an escape hatch, filing legislation Thursday evening that would push the June 1 deadline back by two months.But it's unclear whether a short-term extension could pass the Senate, let alone the House, where reform supporters are vowing to oppose any stopgap legislation.
With the deadline looming, McConnell has little time left to find a way out and save the spy powers he has called critical for national security.

“He’s really in a box,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Wednesday before the House vote. “With all due respect, he’s in a box that the courts have made for him, so to speak, by correctly interpreting the law.”

Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have pledged to filibuster the legislation, and the bill is unlikely to pass, given the certain opposition from nearly all Democrats and a handful of Republicans, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Last edited by Common Sense (5/15/2015 9:07 am)