Will Republicans Continue Scrutiny of the NSA?

Oversight of the National Security Agency could lose some teeth in 2015 when Republicans take control of the Senate and are faced with how vigorously to push for privacy safeguards during surveillance reform efforts. While coordinating bills between the House and Senate on certain issues may become easier with both chambers under Republican control, the measures may not get the same edits for privacy concerns that were voiced under a Democratic Senate majority.

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The midterm election results will flip Senate committees and the focus of oversight matters to Republicans, and NSA critics lost a key ally on the Senate Intelligence Committee when Republican Rep. Cory Gardner defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado.

Gardner has backed privacy and surveillance reform efforts in the past, but Udall and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have been the loudest voices on the intelligence committee in calling for privacy and an end to the NSA's bulk data collection of phone records.

As the current Congress begins a lame-duck session, the NSA reform bill with the most momentum is the USA Freedom Act, first introduced in 2013 by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in the upper chamber and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., in the House. The bill would curb the NSA's bulk collection of phone records, although Udall and Wyden have said it does not go far enough – they've pushed for language that would prevent the government from "incidentally" collecting Americans' Internet communications.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has grown more skeptical of the NSA in recent months, but has in the past defended government surveillance efforts and proposed more watered-down spying regulation than Wyden or Udall have preferred. The committee's current top Republican, Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, is retiring, so GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina would be next in line to lead the committee.

House members have been able to rally votes for legislation that would curtail NSA surveillance, and Sensenbrenner has added that if sufficient reform is not passed by June 2015, Congress may not reauthorize spying powers granted by the Patriot Act before they sunset that month. Leahy has criticized the House version of the Freedom Act as watered down and introduced a revised version with more privacy protections that is still awaiting a Senate vote.

But Leahy also will be replaced as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a post he has used to criticize surveillance efforts by the FBI. Leahy sent a letter on Oct. 30 to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing concern about the bureau’s impersonation of The Associated Press during a bomb threat investigation. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is the likely successor for Leahy’s post.

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With the Patriot Act provisions coming up for reauthorization in June, Republicans in Congress have a chance to affirm their commitment to safeguarding civil liberties, says technologist Sascha Meinrath, director of the tech policy research group X-Lab.

“In my discussions with Republican congressional staff and members, it's clear that this will be a major plank in their 2015 platform and represents a golden opportunity to champion an issue that spans across traditional political boundaries,” says Meinrath, who spoke to U.S. News in a personal capacity.

Government surveillance reform also may continue as a bipartisan focus in the Senate through the continued scrutiny of Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, says Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Congressional oversight committees will certainly have their work cut out for them in the next Congress,” Guliani says. “While the loss of Sen. Udall – who was committed to privacy and civil liberties – will certainly be felt, I think there is an appreciation on both sides of the aisle of the need for strong oversight and reform.”