Senate breaks filibuster 67-32, advances spying bill. Both sides want to remove amendments

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The Senate advanced a controversial surveillance bill on Thursday afternoon by a 67-32 vote, as leaders race to fight off attempts to change it that could result in a lapse over the weekend.

The vote to break a filibuster on a law extending and reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s section 702 authority sets up a crucial showdown before the Saturday expiration of the program. Critics of the authority, which allows warrantless surveillance of foreign targets, want major changes designed at making it much tougher to access American information that is swept up in the program. They also want to strike House language updating which data providers’ information could be used in the program.

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Due to Senate procedure, the spy powers law will expire on Saturday without agreement from all 100 senators to vote more quickly. That in mind, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell must craft a deal that sets parameters on amendment votes and debate time in order to pass the legislation before the deadline.

And changing the two-year extension at this late stage would require the House to vote again on it before Saturday, an arduous exercise that could result in a lapse due to the tight timetable. If the Senate changes the bill, “we run the real risk of FISA expiring,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee.

The fight over surveillance is creating unusual bipartisan coalitions and is likely to lead to a series of challenging Senate votes. Libertarian-leaning lawmakers in both parties want significant alterations — mainly centered on the data provider issue and more warrant requirements when the intelligence community accesses American information — while backers of the intelligence community are warning their colleagues not to play around with the bill with such little time to spare.

Senators in both parties are making a last-minute push to strip out an amendment from the House that would make changes to the law over which data providers must comply with the FISA program. In an interview, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said there’s been no debate about the provision within the Intelligence Committee.

“It was snuck in at the last moment and it’s a massive increase in the number of people that could be forced by the government to be spied on," Wyden said.

Wyden and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said they would insist on a vote to cut that language before moving forward. Both expressed concern that the amendment text is too opaque; Hawley said “it needs to be stripped out.”

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