Following closely on the heels of the House, a nearly empty Senate voted Thursday to agree to a one-month extension of the current Patriot Act, giving both houses more time to work out civil liberties concerns in the bill’s reauthorization.

President Bush is expected to sign the extension, which renews the existing Patriot Act through Feb. 3, 2006, despite previously opposing a short-term extension; otherwise, he risks losing the Patriot Act altogether. With less than ten days before the current act expires, he can’t simply let it sit on his desk.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) refused to go along with the agreement yesterday. He demanded that the House pass an extension only through Feb. 3, forcing a few senators to return to the Capitol last night to give the Senate’s consent.

“The fact is that a six-month extension, in my opinion, would have simply allowed the Senate to duck the issue until the last week in June,” said Sensenbrenner, who had largely prevailed in negotiations with the Senate on a new version of the anti-terrorism law, only to see the compromise blocked by a Senate filibuster. “Now they came pretty close to wrecking everybody’s Christmas. I didn’t want to put the entire Congress in the position of them wrecking everybody’s Independence Day.”

The Patriot Act was passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to strengthen the government’s hand in combating terrorism. The administration sought to toughen some of the provisions and prevent 16 from expiring. Critics charged that the proposed renewal was too slanted in the government’s favor regarding national security letters and special subpoenas that give the FBI significant leeway in obtaining records, among other concerns.

The House action was a setback for Bush, who had repeatedly said he would not accept a “short-term extension.” Wednesday night’s Senate action, which increased the proposed extension from three months to six, was seen in part as a way for Bush and his allies to save face while accepting the collapse of a four-year renewal of the law, which they had supported and which the House passed on Dec. 14.

Yesterday’s House vote not only erased the face-saving measure, but it also forced Bush to accept the shortest extension that lawmakers had seriously considered.

Democratic lawmakers quickly hailed the House vote as a victory. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) said: “Democrats are happy with a one-month extension of the Patriot Act. We always said that we would accept a short-term extension to give negotiators time to get the final bill right.”

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) said: “The amount of time is less important than the good-faith effort that will be needed in improving the Patriot Act to strike the right balance in respecting Americans’ liberty and privacy, while protecting their security.” — Washington Post

Aww, they were going to wreck everybody’s Christmas. That makes me so sad!

Let’s hope they can get it right in just over five weeks, with at least one of those on vacation.