Senate to Move for Short Term Extension on Patriot Act Spy Programs

Republican Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) hinted the Senate would vote for a short-term extension on three of the U.S. spy programs within the Patriot Act Friday, Bloomberg Politics reports.

The short-term extension would give Congress and the President more time to finalize a long-term solution, according to Bloomberg Politics.

Bloomberg Politics reported Cornyn said there aren’t enough votes to pass the bill supported by the White House that would continue most of the programs as is, with the exception of prohibiting the National Security Agency from collecting bulk data on American citizens.

The current authority is set to expire June 1.

“We’re not going to let the program go dark,” Cornyn said. Adding that he thinks the Senate will do “whatever we need to do,” he said.

The bill would require the government to have a court order to obtain records from potential terrorists.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) filibustered Thursday night opposing the record collection program.