The Hill: Surveillance reform wars continue

The Hill: Surveillance reform wars continue by Patrick G. Eddington:

The annual Intelligence Authorization bill has become the latest battleground in the ongoing Surveillance Reform War.

The bill’s inclusion of language that would bar the relatively independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from investigating the links between the NSA’s surveillance programs and covert actions prompted a barrage of amendments to the bill. While originally scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to decide on whether to approve any of the amendments submitted, the GOP majority abruptly cancelled the Rules Committee meeting, possibly partly in response to the controversy over the attempt to limit the PCLOB’s oversight activities.