Patriot Act

Sen. Rand Paul, another Republican presidential contender, said the law is unconstitutional and unnecessary. (Getty)

Republican presidential race sees return of 9/11 politics

David M. Drucker · May 20, 2015 9:00 am

Mitch McConnell is planning to huddle with GOP rank-and-file and could make a decision on surveillance reform today, GOP aides told theÂ Washington Examiner. (AP Photo)Â

McConnell under increasing pressure to back NSA reform bill

Susan Ferrechio · May 19, 2015 4:11 pm

How can the Kentucky senator and 2016 presidential candidate broaden his appeal within the Republican Party without making libertarians, including prominent libertarian activists with big platforms, unhappy?Â There may be a simple answer to that dilemma: the rest of the Republican field. (Getty Image)

Beltway Confidential

Rand Paul’s secret weapon with libertarians

W. James Antle III · May 19, 2015 9:00 am

White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, May 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

White House calls on Senate to pass spying reforms

Susan Crabtree · May 15, 2015 8:21 pm

Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich.,Â saidÂ "It's true that the bill ends the phone dragnet as we currently know it -- by having the phone companies themselves hold, search, and analyze certain data at the request of the government, which is worse in many ways given the broader set of data the companies hold -- but H.R. 2048 actually expands the statutory basis for the large-scale collection of most data."

Beltway Confidential

Why did so many libertarians vote against a bill that’s supposed to rein in the NSA?

W. James Antle III · May 14, 2015 6:54 pm

"You know you've drafted a strong bill when it unites both national security hawks and civil libertarians," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. (AP)

House passes bill curbing NSA bulk data collection

Susan Ferrechio · May 13, 2015 10:06 pm

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell answers questions from the media following the Senate policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol on April 21, 2015 in Washington. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

National Security

Mitch McConnell: Nation is ‘better off’ with Patriot Act

Kelly Cohen · May 11, 2015 1:21 pm

A cybersecurity threat map is displayed inside a lounge during the RSA Conference on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Security breaches prompt unprecedented lobbying for cyber bill

Charlie Mitchell · May 11, 2015 9:00 am

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the warrantless mass collection of American phone records. (AP Photo)

A key case in the debate over liberty and privacy

Jimmy Soni · May 11, 2015 9:00 am

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit found in a 97-page ruling that the federal government's practice of collecting domestic telephone data in bulk is illegal. (iStock)

Court’s NSA ruling leaves surveillance law in doubt

Susan Ferrechio · May 11, 2015 9:00 am

"The threat of the challenge is enormous and it's something we've never seen before," said Brett McGurk, the State Department's special envoy on defeating the Islamic State. (AP File)

Obama official: Defeating Islamic State ‘going to take time’

Zack Colman · May 10, 2015 2:21 pm

"You know you've drafted a strong bill when it unites both national security hawks and civil libertarians," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. (AP)

Court slaps down NSA spying, Congress should not raise it back up

Washington Examiner · May 8, 2015 9:00 am