Will the NSA be reformed?

[Commentary] Remember Edward Snowden? For a while, the National Security Agency's renegade contractor seemed like the most influential man in American intelligence, even though he's been hiding out in Moscow. Snowden's disclosures touched off a wave of enthusiasm in Congress for reforming the NSA's surveillance practices -- and anger overseas when he revealed that American spies were listening to foreign leaders' cellphone calls. But now, as Congress counts only a few working days remaining in its year, the momentum toward intelligence reform has slowed.

"It's often not a good idea to legislate when you're angry," said Michael Allen, a former chief aide to the House Intelligence Committee. "The [congressional] leadership may want this issue to cool down a bit." And that suits the intelligence agencies just fine. "The best outcome from our standpoint is that nothing changes," said a former top official. Snowden probably hasn't released the last of his purloined documents. The U.S. intelligence community still faces unpleasant surprises from his next disclosures, a battle in Congress over competing proposals for reform, and a long road to restoring public confidence. More disclosure isn't the only answer to those challenges. But when it's happening anyway, thanks to a renegade contractor, it would be a useful start.