A deal on wiretaps?
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
Congress and the White House are nearing a deal that will put a controversial surveillance program under court oversight, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said this week. Press reports late last year revealed that the National Security Agency, as part of its tracking of potential terrorist activities, has been monitoring telephone calls and e-mails between the U.S. and other countries. Specter and other lawmakers have argued that those intercepts require a search warrant, a step the Bush administration has resisted. But Specter now says administration officials will soon agree to let the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court—which oversees intelligence-gathering activities—review the NSA program’s wiretap requests and issue warrants.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions