Several Republican senators signaled they will work to stop the passage of legislation approved by the House that would authorize special offices within several government agencies to investigate alleged domestic terrorism, warning that such measures could be weaponized against the public.
“It sounds terrible,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told The Hill about the proposal, comparing it to the PATRIOT Act or the Disinformation Governance Board that was set up under the Biden administration before it was put on “pause” last week.
“It’s like the disinformation board on steroids. Another way to look at is the PATRIOT Act for American citizens,” the Missouri senator said in reference to the Bush-era bill that was enacted in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The PATRIOT Act has long been flagged as a law that expanded the government’s surveillance capacities, allowing it to track email and phone conversions as well as collect bank records—although it was initially used to target Islamic terrorists….