This is quietly moving toward a temporary renewal with many troubling provisions intact.

Julian Sanchez, research fellow at the Cato Institute, evaluates the range of bad options for the renewal of USA Patriot. of the

bad options for the renewal of USA Patriot.

So there was an extensive debate in the fall of 2009

leading up to the December pending expiration of three provisions of the Patriot Act that had been scheduled to sunset.

And there was a temporary extension because further debate was necessary.

And then in February, finally, they approved a one-year extension on the premise that not really

having had time to consider the kind of serious reform that was necessary, the intervening

year would be used to consider the modifications that were necessary, in particular

in light of damning reports from the Office of the Inspector General, revealing widespread

and systematic use of national security letter powers, but we haven't really seen that in the

intervening year.

So what's happening now, as at the end of February, three provisions of the Patriot Act

are again set to sunset.

We have this scramble to do another reauthorization with one slightly substantial reform

proposal offered by Senator Patrick Leahy.

But at a meeting last week of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate's Intelligence Committee,

has said, well, no, there's a time crunch now because we only have

until the end of February before these provisions are set to expire.

And so we need to do a three-year extension of those provisions.

And actually, the legislation Feinstein has offered

would also extend for an additional year the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 which authorized programmatic

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