Washington – Senate Republicans blocked a proposed investigation of President Bush’s domestic-spying operation Thursday as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he had reached an agreement with the White House to pursue legislation establishing clearer rules for the controversial program.
But Senate aides described the discussions with the White House as preliminary. Democrats expressed skepticism over the negotiations, with some describing it as a ploy to protect the Bush administration and the highly classified surveillance operation from congressional scrutiny.
The political maneuvering underscored the stakes surrounding a secret intelligence- gathering program that the White House describes as critical to preventing future terrorist U.S. attacks but which critics call unconstitutional and an abuse of executive power.
After a closed-door meeting with committee members, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said the panel had “decided to adjourn” without considering a Democratic proposal to launch an investigation of the program, run by the National Security Agency, an intelligence agency that operates eavesdropping posts around the globe.
Instead, Roberts, the panel chairman, said the vote was put off because the White House had “committed to legislation and has agreed to brief more Intelligence Committee members on the nature of the surveillance program.” White House officials confirmed a new willingness to consider legislative fixes after weeks of insisting that no congressional action was necessary.
“We maintain that the president does not need additional congressional authority,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. But she said the administration is now willing to discuss a GOP proposal that contains “some good legislative concepts that would not undermine the president’s ability to protect Americans.”
Perino was referring to a proposal by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, that would specifically authorize the NSA to eavesdrop on international calls involving U.S. residents and suspected terrorists overseas without first obtaining a court warrant.
The White House has said Bush has the authority to approve such operations to protect the nation. But critics say the program violates a 1978 statute – the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – that outlawed domestic eavesdropping without approval from a special intelligence court.
The administration’s new willingness to consider legislation appeared to be enough to appease several GOP lawmakers with misgivings about domestic-intelligence collection who could cast deciding votes on whether to launch a Senate probe.
