Another stealth attack by Congress is upon us. This time it's a buried provision in the intelligence communities' budget bill for the coming year. It expands the FBI's authority to issue "national security letters" to obtain business records without prior judicial approval.

Currently, the FBI can issue these letters (they are like subpoenas) to banks and other financial institutions in terror and espionage investigations. The budget bill expands the businesses to which such letters may be issued:

The measure now awaiting final approval in Congress would significantly broaden the law to include securities dealers, currency exchanges, car dealers, travel agencies, post offices, casinos, pawnbrokers and any other institution doing cash transactions with "a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters."

Bush proposed such expansion in a speech two months ago.

Critics said the measure would give the federal government greater power to pry into people's private lives. "This dramatically expands the government's authority to get private business records," said Timothy H. Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "You buy a ring for your grandmother from a pawnbroker, and the record on that will now be considered a financial record that the government can get."

Versions of the bill have already passed both the House and Senate. The matter now goes to a House-Senate conference committee to iron out a final version.

Some Democrats have begun to question whether the measure goes too far and have hinted that they may try to have it pulled when the bill comes before a House-Senate conference committee. Other officials predicted that the measure would probably survive any challenges in conference and be signed into law by President Bush, in part because the provisions already approved in the House and the Senate are identical.

Update: The ACLU weighs in.