Neither President Barack Obama and majority leader Mitch McConnell got what they wanted when the Senate voted on the mass surveillance of American citizens. Now is the future of the surveillance program uncertain.

For the second time this year, the Senate voted down the bill the US Freedom Act, which would put a stop to the intelligence the NSA's mass surveillance of telephone calls. It is a defeat for Obama, who supports the decision to bring an end to the controversial surveillance.

The proposal lacked only three of the 60 votes needed to advance in the chamber, writes multiple media.

Several defeat
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said in advance that the proposal would not get enough votes. But he did not as he wished.

After the vote, the Senate went briskly over to vote for an extension of parts of the Patriot Act, which expires on 1 June. It was the law that paved the way for mass surveillance, but again managed to get together enough votes for an extension of two months.

Uncertain
The future of the surveillance program is now uncertain. The Senate will take a week off and would be collected only on 1 June, which had McConnell unsuccessfully trying to get through a shorter extension.

Senators will now return to Washington a day earlier than planned to discuss ways to deal with the impending expiry of the provisions in the Patriot Act, writes Reuters.

Looks to expire
Senate fails to agree, it looks as if the three provisions relating to the legal bases of the monitoring program will expire at midnight on the last May

- There is no plan B. It is extremely important to ensure that the American people's basic security and safety are protected, and that basic civil liberties are protected, says White House spokesman Joshua Ernest, according to AFP news agency.