Senate rejects amendment limiting warrantless government internet searches

Ron Wyden.
(Image credit: ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Image)

The Senate on Wednesday fell one vote shy of passing a bipartisan amendment drafted by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) that sought to limit warrantless government Internet searches and browsing history.

The vote required a three-fifths majority, and only 59 lawmakers supported it. The 37 no-votes were comprised of both Republicans and Democrats, while four senators, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), didn't cast a vote, though it's reportedly unclear if their participation would have changed the result.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.