President Barack Obama's promise to increase oversight of wiretapping practices has been put on hold after Congress passed a one-year extension of the Patriot Act that made no changes to the law.

In the fall of 2009, civil liberties groups were hopeful that two bills proposing substantial changes to the act would pass. One, by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, would have reauthorized three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act with new reporting requirements and oversight authority. It would also have phased out the government's use of national security letters, documents used by the government to demand businesses or organizations turn over information about individuals. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to reauthorize a provision letting the government maintain wiretaps even if a suspect changes phone numbers or providers. The bill would have allowed another provision to expire, canceling the government's power to track suspects that are not affiliated with any group or foreign country. The House bill also phased out the national letters program and modified the government's authority to conduct "sneak and peek" searches carried out in secret and requiring no prior notice.

But both those bills haven't gone further than their respective committees. Instead, Congress opted to pass a one-year extension of the expiring provisions, and civil liberties groups say the action precludes further work on the issue this year. As a result, we're moving this promise to Stalled.