Hill surveillance reform: Time is not on its side

The USA Freedom Act, the Hill’s preeminent measure to curb National Security Agency authority cleared the House and has been waiting to see movement in the Senate as advocates in and out of Congress try to navigate a tough negotiating landscape. But a diminishing resource in an election year may be an even bigger factor as to whether anything gets done on that and other surveillance questions -- the calendar. Lawmakers won’t be around the Beltway in August, and much of the Senate will be in full-on election mode by September. That reality isn’t lost on the bill’s supporters. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the measure’s top sponsor in the upper chamber, is considering an attempt to bring the bill straight to the Senate floor.