An attempt to curtail the National Security Agency's phone surveillance program fell just short in the House after a strong lobbying effort from GOP leaders, the White House and NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander against the proposed amendment, according to the Washington Post.
The vote was especially interesting because it was not along party lines as most votes in the lower chamber have been in recent years. Support for the amendment came from a diverse group containing libertarian-leaning conservatives, liberal Democrats and tea party affiliated Republicans, according to the Associated Press.
"I call it jokingly the Wing Nut Coalition," Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told the Washington Post. "You have the right wing and the left wing working together and trying to get things done."
The amendment sponsored by Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., would have only allowed the NSA to collect metadata when it was relevant to an ongoing investigation.
Wednesday's vote was the first time since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked the existence of the program to the Guardian that Congress attempted to take legislative action to rein in the program. While the amendment was defeated by a vote of 217-205 supporters of it vowed to continue the fight, according to the Associated Press.
Amash tweeted about the vote shortly afterward.
We came close (205-217). If just 7 Reps had switched their votes, we would have succeeded. Thank YOU for making a difference. We fight on.
— Justin Amash (@repjustinamash) July 24, 2013
"This discussion is going to be examined continually...as long as we have this many members in the House of Representatives that are saying it's OK to collect all records you want just as long as you make sure you don't let it go anywhere else," Conyers said. "That is the beginning of the wrong direction in a democratic society."
Although he normally does not vote Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, voted against the amendment.
"I am particularly pleased that members on both sides of the aisle worked together to preserve critical intelligence tools that have proven successful in preventing terrorist attacks and keeping America safe," Boehner said in a statement.
Notable every member of the House Intelligence Committee voted against the amendment with one exception, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., according to the Los Angeles Times.
"(The collection program) should be restructured so that the private companies retain possession of their own data rather than the government - something the director of the NSA has acknowledged is technologically feasible - and this amendment would compel the NSA to move in that direction," Schiff said in a statement. "(Doing so) would be more respectful of the privacy interests of the American people while allowing the government to seek the data it needs from the telephone companies to protect the country."
Shortly after the amendment was defeated the defense appropriations bill passed 315 to 109. The bill will now go to the Senate where it is expected to be debated after the August recess, according to Washington Post.
