WASHINGTON — Republicans successfully maneuvered to derail a Democratic government eavesdropping bill Wednesday, delaying a House vote until next week at the earliest.
The bill, which seeks to expand court oversight of government surveillance in the United States, fell victim to a gambit by the chamber’s Republican minority. Democrats were forced to pull the bill from the House floor with no certainty about how it might be revived.
A Democratic staff member said the bill will not be rewritten but that substantive amendments may be allowed when it finally does come up for a vote.
The earliest that could happen is next week, as today the House will be busy with an attempt to override a presidential veto of a children’s health- care bill.
The Democratic eavesdropping bill would have allowed unfettered telephone and e-mail surveillance of foreign intelligence targets but would require special authorization if the foreign targets were likely to be in contact with people inside the U.S., a provision designed to safeguard Americans’ privacy.
Those so-called “blanket warrants” would let the government obtain a single order authorizing the surveillance of multiple targets.
Republican critics, however, said the blanket warrants would tie up intelligence agents in legal red tape.
“Congress needs to move forward, not backward,” President Bush said at a White House news conference as the debate in Congress began.
Bush had vowed to veto the bill if it reached his desk.
Republicans had planned to offer a motion that vulnerable Democrats would have a hard time voting against. The amendment would have said that nothing in the bill could limit surveillance of Osama bin Laden and terrorist organizations.
