A bill that would expand George W. Bush’s power to wiretap American telephones is headed for the Senate Judiciary Committee next Thursday, according to The Raw Story. Written by Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, the bill institutes program-wide warrants that do not expire for a year.
The original intention of the committee was to bring NSA wiretapping into compliance with FISA guidelines, but as it reads now, Specter’s bill gives Bush even more power. Specter is co-author, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of another bill that would do more to limit NSA wiretapping and would also require judicial review. That bill is also scheduled to appear before the committee next Thursday.
The mandatory judicial review is a sticking point for the White House, whose spokespeople said that “you can trust us….Just don’t make it mandatory for us.”
Specter has expressed frustration at having to write a wiretapping bill when he does not know the details of the NSA wiretapping program.
