Just a weeks away from some important developments in the NSA surveillance litigation — oral argument in the Sixth Circuit is at the end of the month, and Judge Lynch's opinion in the SDNY should be coming down soon — the Administration has just announced some changes. It's not clear to me exactly what the changes are, but here is what the AP is saying:

  The Justice Department, easing a Bush administration policy, said Wednesday it has decided to give an independent body authority to monitor the government's controversial domestic spying program.
  In a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said this authority has been given to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and that it already has approved one request for monitoring the communications of a person believed to be linked to al-Qaida or an associated terror group.
  The court orders approving collection of international communications — whether it originates in the United States or abroad — was issued Jan. 10, according to the two-page letter to Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
  "As a result of these orders, any electronic surveillance that was occurring as part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program will now be conducted subject to the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," Gonzales wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
  "Accordingly, under these circumstances, the President has determined not to reauthorize the Terrorist Surveillance Program when the current authorization expires," the attorney general wrote.

  It's not entirely clear to me what this means, but then I haven't seen the letter. If anyone has a copy of the letter, please send it on or add a link in the comment thread.