Mitch Mcconnell

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, will get one last chance to force votes on amendments Tuesday to try to give the NSA more spying time, and to weaken some of the transparency that the House imposed. (Associated Press)

Patriot Act backers scramble to save NSA phone snooping powers

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

"The Patriot Act will expire tonight. It will only be temporary. They will ultimately get their way," said Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, underscoring the limits of his powers of objection, which can push matters until Wednesday at the latest. (Associated Press)

Rand Paul stalls Patriot Act NSA surveillance powers past renewal deadline

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

A former attorney general of Delaware, Beau Biden was an Iraq war veteran and a likely candidate to run for governor of his home state. (Associated Press)

Beau Biden’s passing mourned by politicians

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Chamber to begin a special session to extend surveillance programs Sunday. (AP Photo)

Patriot Act expiration looms with Senate stalemate on USA Freedom Act

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama speaks to media as he meets with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama, James Clapper plead Senate GOP to relent on Patriot Act standoff

By Stephen Dinan and Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gets a campaign assist from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., left, at the Warren County Regional Airport in Paul's hometown, Bowling Green, Ky., on Nov. 3, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

White House likens McConnell-Paul ‘feud’ to Hatfields and McCoys

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama speaks to members of the media during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Tuesday, May 26, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Obama began with commenting on flooding in Texas and calling on Senate to act on USA Freedom Act. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama scolds Senate: Skip recess, get back to work on Patriot Act reform

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is locked in a fierce battle with Kentucky seatmate Rand Paul over extending the phone-snooping powers of the Patriot Act, which Mr. Paul opposes. (Associated Press)

Patriot Act: NSA phone snooping likely to expire after Mitch McConnell gambit backfires

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. holds up his cell phone as he speaks before announcing the start of his presidential campaign, in Louisville, Ky., April 7, 2015. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Patriot Act powers in danger of expiring after midnight filibusters

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

FILE - In this May 5, 2015 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. Supporters of President Barack Obama&#8217;s trade agenda hope to fend off hostile Senate amendments Friday, May 22, 2015, and send a major trade bill to the House, where another fierce debate awaits. Legislation to renew the Patriot Act is also on the calendar, as is a bill to renew authority to commit federal funds for highway and bridge construction. McConnell is intent on keeping the anti-terrorism Patriot Act from lapsing while Republicans control the House and Senate. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Fight over NSA snooping, Patriot Act goes down to wire

By Stephen Dinan and Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner have tussled with their right flank over how best to advance a conservative agenda at the Capitol. (Associated Press) **FILE**

JUDSON PHILLIPS: With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?

By Judson Phillips

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is hoping to gather enough votes for at least a short-term extension of the Patriot Act. He supports the National Security Agency's phone-snooping program, which has generated heated debate in the Republican Party. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Mitch McConnell’s NSA phone-snooping hopes set for Senate vote

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, following a policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)

GOP leaders vow to pass Obama’s trade bill

By S.A. Miller - The Washington Times

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2015, after a policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Mitch McConnell on Jon Stewart’s turtle comparisons: ‘I loved it’

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican. (Associated Press)

NSA phone snooping rejected by House; Patriot Act rewrite approved

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama pauses while speaking at the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Georgetown University in Washington, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. (Associated Press)

Senate Democrats are poised to block Obama’s trade agenda

By Charles Babington - Associated Press

FILE-This July 13, 2011, file photo shows Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. looking on at right, as President Barack Obama meets with Congressional leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Obama sent McConnell a handwritten thank you note for the Republican’s backing of Loretta Lynch as attorney general. That’s right: The Democratic president and GOP leader who have been at odds multiple times over the last six years find themselves on the same page of late. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Mitch McConnell: Obama wrote me a thank-you note for Lynch vote

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the Republican Leadership Summit Saturday, April 18, 2015, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Rand Paul on NSA: ‘I know of no one that was ever caught or stopped from this program’

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

FILE - In this March 17, 2015 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. McConnell and GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz are among 57 Republicans in Congress who are calling on the Supreme Court to uphold state bans on same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

EDITORIAL: Courts rule Patriot Act illegal

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

With a June 1 deadline looming, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said he is not going to debate the Patriot Act until the last week of May, leaving little time to work out a deal with the House, which is moving in the other direction — working on a bill that would scrap the National Security Agency's phone program and all other bulk collection under the Patriot Act. (Associated Press)

Mitch McConnell delays NSA snooping debate in bid for full Patriot Act extension

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times