Friends of Juan Carlos Nieves Rodriguez, one of the victims of the shooting at the Pulse night club in Orlando, are seen through a window of a hearse transporting Nieves' body toward the cemetery, outside the funeral parlor at his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico, June 20, 2016.[Photo/VCG]

Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, criticized a similar effort last month as one that "takes a hatchet to important protections for Americans' liberty."

The amendment would broaden the FBI's authority to use so-called National Security Letters to include electronic communications transaction records such as time stamps of emails and the emails' senders and recipients.

The amendment filed Monday would also make permanent a provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows the intelligence community to conduct surveillance on "lone wolf" suspects who do not have confirmed ties to a foreign terrorist group. That provision, which the Justice Department said last year had never been used, is currently set to expire in December 2019.

A vote is expected no later than Wednesday, McConnell's office said.