On the January 2 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly claimed that President Bush "kept all members of the Senate and House intelligence committees up to speed" on his program of domestic, warrantless electronic surveillance, an assertion contradicted by several congressional Democrats and Republicans. As The New York Times disclosed on December 16, Bush has repeatedly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on electronic communications within the United States without obtaining a warrant in apparent contravention of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA). Although O'Reilly stated that all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees -- which total 35 members of Congress -- were kept "up to speed on the program," it has been reported that only a total of 14 legislators received briefings; several of them, both Republican and Democrat, have criticized the briefings as insufficient and have noted that those being briefed were prevented from publicly criticizing the administration because of the classified nature of the program.
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