Congress Pursues Deal on Phone Data Collection in Rare Talks During Recess

Senior lawmakers are scrambling in rare recess negotiations to agree on a face-saving change to legislation that would rein in the National Security Agency’s dragnet of phone records, with time running out on some of the government’s domestic surveillance authority.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) said a series of phone calls and staff meetings over the weeklong Memorial Day break should be enough to reach agreement on changes to the USA Freedom Act. Three senators need to be won over for the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act, which has already been approved by the House and would change the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act’s provision that the NSA has used to sweep up phone records in bulk. If negotiators accept minor changes to the House bill, it will mark a significant retreat for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC). The two men have said phone companies, which would collect the data instead of the NSA under the USA Freedom Act, are not equipped to handle the task. Even face-saving changes will be difficult.