WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Senate convened on Sunday to consider legislation to replace the Patriot Act provisions, prior to their expiration at midnight.
"The deadline to act is midnight tonight," US Senator Patrick Leahy said on the Senate floor on Sunday.
Shortly before 10:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday (02:00 GMT on Monday), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the Senate until noon on Monday, without taking action to replace the Patriot Act provisions.
Seen on C-SPAN2: U.S. Senate moves forward on House-passed #NSA Surveillance bill, 77-17. pic.twitter.com/Bn3M9uq4zl
— CSPAN (@cspan) 31 мая 2015
Senator Leahy, the sponsor of the Freedom Act, stated that "if the Senate does not pass the… USA Freedom act, or if we amend it in any way, the authorities are going to expire."
On Monday, the Senate will meet to reconsider the USA Freedom Act, which updates Patriot Act surveillance authorities and allegedly limits bulk data collection in the United States.
It is currently unclear how the Senate will address the midnight expiration of the provisions. The Freedom Act effectively amends sections of the Patriot Act that will have expired by Monday.
Numerous officials within the US intelligence community have given their support to the USA Freedom Act. US President Barack Obama has also supported the act and warned on Friday that a failure to pass it would leave the United States vulnerable to potential attacks.
Defense and intelligence establishments in the United States have been at the center of controversy after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked information on US National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance programs in 2013.
