House, Senate leaders agree to four-year extension of Patriot Act surveillance

House and Senate leaders have reached a deal to extend three expiring Patriot Act surveillance authorities for four years, until June 1, 2015. 

The agreement comes just eight days before authorization for the surveillance techniques are set to expire Friday, May 27.

On Wednesday, Senate Major Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced a bill extending them until the end of 2014, but that bill had a different expiration date than others proposed by House and Senate Democrats and did not extend them as far as Republicans wanted.

With the agreement, the House and Senate are poised next week to take up identical legislation and extend them until mid-2015. Reid on Thursday evening filed cloture on S. 1038, which would implement the agreement.

Reid said a cloture vote on the bill would take place Monday at 5 p.m.

The House was preparing to take up its own bill extending the three authorities until 2017, but has pulled back that bill, H.R. 1800. Once the bill is passed, U.S. intelligence authorities will be able to continue conducting roving wire taps, accessing business records and running surveillance on "lone-wolf" operators.

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