The White House should put a halt to a program that surveils Americans' phone calls and text messages because it's not worth the effort, the National Security Agency is arguing.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the NSA told the Trump administration that the program, which will expire in December pending Congressional action, is not proving to be effective.
The first iteration of the surveillance program began after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. It was altered in 2015 via the USA Freedom Act, but the Journal reported that issues with compliance have dragged it down.
"The candle is not worth the flame," a former senior intelligence official told the Journal.
It was reported in March that the data collection program had not been used in months. It was originally designed to hunt for terror suspects.
The government said after the passage of the USA Freedom Act that it would destroy the bulk phone data collected via the original program.
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