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WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives failed Tuesday to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are crucial to the United States' post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leaders who miscalculated the level of opposition.
The House voted 277-148 to keep the three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec. 8. Republicans brought up the bill under a special expedited procedure that required a two-thirds majority, and the vote was seven short of reaching that level.
The Republicans, who took over the House last month, lost 26 of their own members, adding to the 122 Democrats who voted against it. Supporters say the three measures are vital to preventing another terrorist attack like those on Sept. 11, 2001, but critics say they infringe on civil liberties. They appealed to the antipathy that newer and more conservative Republicans hold for big government invasions of individual privacy.
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The Patriot Act bill would have renewed the authority for court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. Also addressed was Section 215, the so-called library records provision, which gives the FBI court-approved access to "any tangible thing" relevant to a terrorism investigation.
The third deals with the "lone-wolf" provision of a 2004 anti-terror law that permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. people not known to be affiliated with a specific terror organization.
Among the 26 Republicans against the extension were seven freshman lawmakers backed by the Tea Party movement, whose members have said the Patriot Act intrudes on every-day life, NBC News reported. They are David Schweikert of Arizona, Tom Graves of Georgia, Raul Labrador of Idaho, Randy Hultgren and Bobby Schilling of Illinois, Justin Amash of Michigan and Christopher Gibson of New York. An eighth first-term Republican, Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined them.
The Republican-controlled House was expected to favor the nine-month extension.
Republican Sen. James Sensenbrenner, the former Judiciary Committee chairman who authored the 2001 Patriot Act, urged his colleagues to support the extensions, saying they were needed as a stopgap until permanent statutes could be agreed upon.
"The terrorist threat has not subsided and will not expire, and neither should our national security laws," he said.
But Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Republican supporters of the ultraconservative tea party movement should show their opposition to big government by joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
"How about the Patriot Act, which has the broadest reach and the deepest reach of government to our daily lives?" he asked.
The House could vote again on an extension under regular procedures that would require just a simple majority to pass.
The Obama administration earlier Tuesday urged Congress to extend the tools for nearly three years while Senate Republicans urged them to become permanent.
The White House said that while it would support the nine-month extension proposed by House Republicans, it would "strongly prefer" that they be re-authorized through December 2013.
"This approach would ensure appropriate congressional oversight by maintaining a sunset, but the longer duration provides the necessary certainty and predictability that our nation's intelligence and law enforcement agencies require," the White House said in a statement.
An aide for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee had said a nine-month extension would provide time for new lawmakers to get up to speed on the issue and for the panel to discuss fully the usefulness of the techniques.
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Senate Republicans said last week a permanent extension of the surveillance would give authorities greater certainty as they try to detect and disrupt plots against the United States.
Republicans have repeatedly hammered the administration over its handling of terrorism cases. More broadly, they and the administration have been increasingly concerned about the so-called lone wolf threat.
In recent months, there have been several terrorism plots uncovered involving individuals largely acting alone.
The American Civil Liberties Union has urged lawmakers to adopt stronger protections to ensure that authorities are not allowed to illegally spy on innocent Americans.
"We're disappointed that another sunset is coming and going without any substantial changes to the Patriot Act," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel for the ACLU.
