A Jan. 18 article incorrectly said that the order placing the government¿s domestic spying program under the review of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was signed by one of that court¿s rotating judges who was handling its cases the week of Jan. 10. That judge did not sign the order. It is unclear which judge did.
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Court Will Oversee Wiretap Program
Even before it was revealed publicly, the NSA program had infuriated Kollar-Kotelly and some other members of the FISA court, who questioned the program's legality and who warned the Justice Department that it could not use information from such monitoring to obtain warrants under FISA.
Advocacy groups filed lawsuits challenging the legality of the NSA surveillance. In August, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit ruled that the program was unconstitutional and should be halted. The government took the case to the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati, which allowed the program to continue on appeal and is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 31.
The fight over the NSA program also raged in Congress, which did not act last year on dueling proposals to authorize the surveillance. A proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), then chairman of Judiciary, would have allowed -- but not required -- the administration to receive blanket approval for the program from the FISA court.
In a background briefing with reporters, one Justice Department official said the change to FISA oversight is likely to have a "significant impact" on a number of the court cases now pending, particularly lawsuits seeking to halt a program that is now being abandoned.
The official also said the administration hopes that the change will slow attempts by Congress to hold hearings on the NSA program. "This should remove or take away the heat or need for such a debate," the official said.
Officials said that Bush has issued orders every 45 days to reauthorize the NSA surveillance program and that he will not seek to renew it when the current term expires. The new orders from the FISA court will last 90 days, officials said.
Gonzales had been mum on the topic during media and public appearances in recent days, including a speech yesterday during which he contended that federal judges are unqualified to decide terrorism issues best handled by Congress or the president. Gonzales is scheduled to appear today before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Staff writers Michael Abramowitz, Dafna Linzer and Carol Leonnig and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
