Following a debate in Congress over the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act, three sections were allowed to expire on June 1, 2015. Earlier, the House of Representative had passed the USA Freedom Act. Despite this Sunday night session of Congress in which some members attempted to extend sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, it was ultimately unsuccessful.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, led the challenge of the USA PATRIOT Act. The Senator had called for more privacy and had filibustered earlier in May so that the three sections of the USA PATRIOT Act would expire. Section 215, the controversial authorization to collect telephone data on Americans, was one of the provisions that expired after midnight on June 1. The successor to the USA PATRIOT Act, the USA Freedom Act, most notably addresses Section 215. It does not, however, modify the other two expired provisions. The sections that deal with roving wiretapping suspected terrorists, and the section on the legality of using security tools on single individuals not affiliated with larger terrorist groups would be reauthorized in the USA Freedom Act if it passes through the Senate.

This is not the first time that the USA PATRIOT Act has reached an expiration date. In 2011, President Obama extended the Act just before it would have lapsed. Senator Rand Paul had filibustered during that debate as well. Although it had always been controversial, in the past, the Senate had voted to expand the act’s time limit.