Omnibus federal spending bill extends tax ban, Internet surveillance

The U.S. congress ended the year by passing a mammoth federal funding bill, which included a Christmas stocking full of miscellaneous measures (h/t to Morning Consult for the pointer). The bill expanded federal surveillance authority on the one hand, but restricted the ability of financial law enforcement agencies to dig into old email on the other. The ban on Internet taxes was extended for a year and congress resisted the impulse to tinker with the FCC’s net neutrality ruling.