Rep Justin Amash almost beat the NSA. Next time, he might do it.

[Commentary] The remarkably close House vote on the NSA’s bulk surveillance program can be read one of two ways.

You could say it was a symbolic win for the agency’s critics. Or you could say the House rejected an attempt to weaken the program. Which side you fall on depends mostly on whether you think symbolism carries any weight in this debate. The fact that Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) failed to push through his amendment — one that would have limited the NSA’s ability to gather telephone metadata on Americans — is a defeat for the congressman, of sorts. But even if the language had made it into the House’s defense authorization bill, it would’ve been stripped out in conference with the Senate. It also faced a near-certain presidential veto. In short, there was an upper limit to how far Rep Amash could’ve gone regardless of how the vote turned out. Despite the amendment’s iffy chances from the start, Rep Amash and his co-sponsor, Rep John Conyers (D-MI), were determined to test the waters. The results took most Congress watchers by surprise.