Court reauthorizes surveillance program, citing congressional approval

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the court that oversees National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs, reauthorized the agency’s collection of bulk telephone data, saying that Congress had already approved the reauthorization of the program.

Judge Mary McLaughlin said she supports a ruling from earlier in the year, reauthorizing Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which allows the NSA to collect bulk telephone data. To justify her ruling, Judge McLaughlin points to “Congress’ reenactment of Section 215 after receiving information about the government’s ... interpretation of the statute.” “Although the existence of the [bulk telephone data collection] program was classified until several months ago ... many Members of Congress were aware of, and each Member had the opportunity to learn about, the scope of the metadata collection,” Judge McLaughlin wrote.