Congress voted yesterday to extend three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act until June 2015 without adopting any new oversight or transparency provisions. President Obama has signed the bill.

Three controversial provisions of the law were set to expire today which authorize the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to grant warrants to federal investigators for "roving wiretaps" of an individual; for surveillance of a foreign citizen, even without showing that the person is a terrorist or foreign agent; and for "business records," including library records.

The Senate approved the bill, S. 990, by a 72-23 vote. The House then passed the bill 250-153.

Those numbers show weaker support than the three-month extension that the provisions received in February, which passed the Senate 86-12 and the House 275-144.

Ironically, given concerns that Congress had rubberstamped the renewal, the White House announced that President Obama would sign the bill by "autopen". Obama is traveling in Europe and was unable to return to the U.S. to sign the bill before the provisions were set to expire.

Hopes for Patriot Act reform may not be completely dashed, however, as yesterday Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ten cosponsors introduced S. 1125. The bill would strengthen oversight and transparency of business records and other FISA court orders, remove the one-year waiting period to challenge a gag order under the statute, and institute new public reporting and auditing requirements, among other reforms.