House Democrats plan to introduce a bill this week that would let a secret court issue one-year "umbrella" warrants to allow the government to intercept e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets and would not require that surveillance of each person be approved individually.

The bill is likely to resurrect controversy that erupted this summer when Congress, under White House pressure, rushed through a temporary emergency law that expanded the government's authority to conduct foreign surveillance on U.S. soil without a warrant. The Protect America Act, which expires in February, has been criticized as being too broad and lacking effective court oversight.

The Democrats' legislation, drafted by the Intelligence and Judiciary committee chairmen, is aimed to reconcile civil liberties, privacy and national security concerns. It would overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a 1978 law amended many times that the Bush administration argues has been outstripped by technology.

Should telecom companies like AT&T be given a “get out of jail free” card for their participation in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program? That’s what Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Ken Wainstein asked for on Tuesday in a House committee. Strangely enough, it appears that Congressional Democrats are seriously considering playing along.

As the New York Times reported in an article on the House committee hearings, “Democratic Congressional aides say they believe that a deal is likely to provide protection for the companies.”

Any deal of this sort is a direct attempt to affect EFF’s case against AT&T — in which we allege that the telecom giant participated in an illegal wiretapping program — as well as other pending lawsuits challenging illegal surveillance. But EFF isn’t the only group outraged by the willingness of Congressional Democrats to buckle at a moment’s notice…