WASHINGTON — After two weeks of confusing debate in Congress over President Bush's domestic spying operation, lawmakers appear determined to exercise oversight over the program. Just what form the congressional supervision eventually will take, however, is far from settled.
The House and Senate Intelligence committees, whose loyal Republican chairmen have long resisted taking action critical of the administration, have been prodded to agree to hold closed hearings on the president's decision to order warrantless electronic surveillance inside the United States.
However, the Senate Intelligence Committee put off a decision this week on whether to launch a formal inquiry into the program, postponing a vote until March 7. Several House Intelligence Committee members said they expected the panel to take up the issue, but that no meetings to debate or investigate the program had been scheduled.
Meanwhile, two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the secret federal surveillance court established to issue the warrants, are pressing ahead with proposed legislation to impose some form of judicial and congressional review on the National Security Agency, which conducts the surveillance.
The issue may cool while Congress spends the next week on its Presidents Day break. But after weeks of refusing to brief Congress on the program or discuss legislation to authorize it, the Bush administration has given way on both fronts. Briefings for members of the intelligence committees began last week. This week, the White House agreed to discuss legislation that would formally authorize the program.
The critical push for oversight has come from moderate Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill, including Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), a former National Security Council staffer who has become a leading voice among centrists on national security issues.
Wilson heads the intelligence subcommittee that oversees the NSA. Her call last week for a full congressional inquiry spurred the White House decision to change course and brief all members of the intelligence committees about the classified program.
Another force is Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing he led on Feb. 6 to receive testimony from Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales persuaded many Republicans, including Wilson, that the president's legal rationale for the program was "weak."
