WASHINGTON—President Trump will meet Tuesday with a group of Republicans who are on different sides of a fight over whether to curtail the government’s spying powers when Congress enacts must-pass legislation to extend some expiring surveillance authorities.. The meeting is set to include, among others, Sens. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), who are privacy hawks, and Attorney General William Barr, who opposes sweeping changes to the existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which he has called crucial to national security. . The goal of the meeting is to hash out the differences among Republicans and try to agree on a way forward before key powers expire on March 15.. “There are lots of strong views about what should happen, so it’s time that everyone start talking among themselves to see if there’s any chance of unity among Republicans prior to March 15th,” a White House official said.. Those differing views came into focus last week when Mr. Barr urged Senate Republicans at a closed-door lunch to renew expiring surveillance powers, saying he would use his own authority as attorney general to institute quality-control measures.. While many Senate Republicans have supported a straightforward extension, others see any legislation to preserve the government’s monitoring powers as an opportunity to overhaul the system.. “The president has said that his position is we should not reauthorize the Patriot Act without reforms,” said Mr. Paul, who said he would know more about how far Mr. Trump intended to push his position after the Tuesday meeting.. Mr. Trump has signaled his support for a measure that would prohibit the U.S. government from turning to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get wiretaps on Americans, and Mr. Paul said last week he is crafting an amendment to a coming intelligence bill that would overhaul the secretive court.. Privacy hawks within the Republican Party have an opportunity because many Democrats also support restricting surveillance powers. . The unusual coalition that has emerged is big enough that last week House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) was forced to cancel a planned committee vote to advance surveillance legislation when Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.) threatened to muster enough votes to dramatically reshape the measure in ways favored by privacy hawks..
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WASHINGTON—President Trump will meet Tuesday with a group of Republicans who are on different sides of a fight over whether to curtail the government’s spying powers when Congress enacts must-pass legislation to extend some expiring surveillance authorities.. The meeting is set to include, among others, Sens. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), who are privacy hawks, and Attorney General William Barr, who opposes sweeping changes to the existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which he has called crucial to national security. . The goal of the meeting is to hash out the differences among Republicans and try to agree on a way forward before key powers expire on March 15.. “There are lots of strong views about what should happen, so it’s time that everyone start talking among themselves to see if there’s any chance of unity among Republicans prior to March 15th,” a White House official said.. Those differing views came into focus last week when Mr. Barr urged Senate Republicans at a closed-door lunch to renew expiring surveillance powers, saying he would use his own authority as attorney general to institute quality-control measures.. While many Senate Republicans have supported a straightforward extension, others see any legislation to preserve the government’s monitoring powers as an opportunity to overhaul the system.. “The president has said that his position is we should not reauthorize the Patriot Act without reforms,” said Mr. Paul, who said he would know more about how far Mr. Trump intended to push his position after the Tuesday meeting.. Mr. Trump has signaled his support for a measure that would prohibit the U.S. government from turning to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get wiretaps on Americans, and Mr. Paul said last week he is crafting an amendment to a coming intelligence bill that would overhaul the secretive court.. Privacy hawks within the Republican Party have an opportunity because many Democrats also support restricting surveillance powers. . The unusual coalition that has emerged is big enough that last week House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) was forced to cancel a planned committee vote to advance surveillance legislation when Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.) threatened to muster enough votes to dramatically reshape the measure in ways favored by privacy hawks..
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