Can a new round of NSA transparency bills make it through Congress?

[Commentary] In July, the US House of Representatives came within 12 votes of defunding National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance in a sweeping amendment vote that caught much of Washington by surprise. More than two months later, a pair of more modest bills have entered the Senate and House, sponsored by Sen Al Franken (D-MN) and Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) respectively. The bills are aimed at transparency rather than broad-stroke defunding, something companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft have lobbied and sued for, but this would be a chance to make those transparency principles the law of the land.

To get it through, advocates will have to navigate a dysfunctional Congress and a President who has staunchly defended executive secrecy. So how much of a chance do these bills have? The bills' biggest assets are their powerful friends. The tech industry is lobbying hard, with nearly every major American tech company signing an open letter in support of the bills, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Twitter, Tumblr, Dropbox, and AOL. Just as important, the Senate bill also has powerful friends in the legislature. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is listed as a co-sponsor of the bill, which means it will likely get a chance at a floor vote in the Senate. So far, all the co-sponsors are Democrats, raising concerns over whether it will gain bipartisan support, but Senate Republicans like Rand Paul (R-KY) have co-sponsored NSA reform bills in the past, and dozens of House Republicans signed on to the previous NSA-defunding push. In light of the government shutdown, the odds seem slim for any legislation in the short term, but the transparency bills have as good a chance as any.