Electronic surveillance

Spy agencies seek permanent authority for contested surveillance program

The intelligence community is seeking permanent authority for a contested surveillance program at a time when senators in both parties are increasingly frustrated in their attempts to learn how much information spy agencies collect on American citizens — and even on senators themselves.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) asked a panel of intelligence officials whether his communications had ever been swept up when he was talking to a foreign leader abroad.

“Am I entitled to know?” he demanded. “Am I entitled to know if my communications were collected?”