A bill aimed at curbing the National Security Agency's ability to monitor the telephone records and Internet usage of millions of Americans was struck down by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The proposal marked the first challenge to the controversial federal data gathering program since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of its scope earlier this year.
In a 217-205 vote, the House defeated the amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Justin Amash to limit the collection of metadata by the NSA, reports Reuters.
Although unsuccessful, Amash gained support from allies across the political spectrum—from libertarian Republicans, to conservatives and liberals—who felt dismayed by the government spying on people who were not under criminal investigation.
The amendment, which was attached to a defense spending bill, would have required the government to show any collection of data is related to a specific individual.
Amash argued that his proposal would only stop the government from sweeping up data indiscriminately, and would not interfere with the pursuit of legitimate terrorism investigations.
However, critics of the amendment said it would deal a death blow to a critical intelligence program that has helped disrupt planned terrorist attacks.
"It ends the program," said Rep. Tom Cotton, USA Today reported. "It blows it up."
Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, has said the collection of data has helped disrupt dozens of terrorist plots. Investigators are not allowed to comb through the data, but can use it when they have identified a foreign suspect through other intelligence collection.
On the other hand, opponents say the NSA programs violate privacy and go beyond the reach of the Patriot Act, which was designed to expand the ability of the government to investigate and prosecute terrorism cases.
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