The U.S. Senate voted early Saturday to block the USA Freedom Act, a legislation that aimed to put an end to the bulk collection of telephone records by the National Security Agency.
It also voted down a bill that would extend to July 31 certain provisions of the Patriot Act, including Section 215, which provides the legal framework for the current NSA phone surveillance program.
The Senate, which adjourned Saturday for the Memorial Day weekend, will reconvene on May 31, when it will try to hammer out a deal ahead of the June 1 deadline when the Patriot Act provisions expire, unless reauthorized in the same or modified form by legislation.
The USA Freedom Act was rejected by the Senate by a 57-42 vote, while the bid to extend the Patriot Act provisions, proposed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was shot down in a 54-45 vote.
