After voting against it, Rep Darrell Issa wants another chance to defund the NSA

A key Republican has shifted his stance on a landmark vote to defund the National Security Agency’s collection of telephone metadata. In a letter to House leadership, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) urged another vote on Rep. Justin Amash’s (R-MI) legislative language that would have curtailed the program charged with gathering bulk phone records.

“I respectfully request that you move legislation to the floor, including language of the Amash Amendment that was narrowly defeated on July 26, 2013, during debate on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, as quickly as possible,” the letter reads. Rep. Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had previously sided against Amash’s amendment in a 217-205 vote. The close outcome led civil liberties advocates to claim that major changes on surveillance were afoot in Washington.