SPYING POWERS LAPSE: Senate Fails to Reach a Deal on NSA Surveillance

Well, it’s after midnight and the Senate failed to reach a deal on the domestic surveillance.

Via AP:

Eight days after blocking it, Senate Republicans have agreed to begin debate on a House bill that would overhaul the National Security Agency’s handling of American calling records while preserving other domestic surveillance provisions.

But that remarkable turnabout didn’t happen soon enough to prevent the laws governing the programs from expiring at midnight Sunday as Republican Sen. Rand Paul, a presidential contender, stood in the way of extending the program, angering his GOP colleagues and frustrating intelligence and law enforcement officials.

Even though the USA Freedom Act will likely pass anyway, we can breathe a sigh of private, NSA-less relief for five whole minutes together for the first time in years…