Senate Republicans Block Sweeping Overhaul of National Security Agency Program

BREAKING NEWS Tuesday, November 18, 2014 7:58 PM EST

Senate Republicans Block Sweeping Overhaul of National Security Agency Program Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a sweeping overhaul of the once-secret National Security Agency program that collects records of Americans’ phone calls in bulk. Democrats and a handful of Republicans who supported the measure fell two votes short of the 60 votes they needed to take up the legislation, which sponsors named the U.S.A. Freedom Act. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, worked hard to defeat the bill, which had the support of the Obama administration and a coalition of technology companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. READ MORE » http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/us/nsa-phone-records.html?emc=edit_na_20141118