Obama near a decision on intelligence review

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is hosting a series of meetings this week with lawmakers, privacy advocates and intelligence officials as he nears a final decision on changes to the government’s controversial surveillance programs.

Obama could announce the changes as early as next week. He’s weighing more than 40 recommendations from a presidential review board that proposed restrictions on the National Security Agency’s collection of telephone records from millions of Americans.

A separate task force appointed by Congress has also undertaken its own review of the NSA’s vast powers. However, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board doesn’t expect to issue its report until late January at the earliest, meaning Obama will announce his recommendations before receiving the group’s final report.

Board members were meeting with the president at the White House Wednesday and have also held previous meetings with administration officials. Obama was also scheduled to huddle Wednesday with members of the intelligence community, many of whom have been pushing to keep the NSA surveillance programs intact.