But the fact that it is even being considered underscores the level of concern within the administration over the possible damage from the months-long spying scandal _ including the most recent disclosure that the National Security Agency was monitoring the communications of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  WASHINGTON—The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee promised a total review of all U.S. spying programs for the first time in decades, and said she expected that the White House would end all spying on leaders of allied countries.
– With European countries fuming over NSA surveillance, the White House is reconsidering its spying activities. Yesterday, Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she was calling for a "total review of all intelligence programs," and that the White House had assured her that "collection on our allies will not continue," the Wall Street Journal reports. A senior White House official tells the AP that isn't true, but says that Obama is considering at least ending surveillance on foreign heads of state, and has already made some unspecified policy changes. Feinstein's statement is still significant, because she's been a major NSA defender, and receives regular intelligence briefings from the White House. But she said she was "totally opposed" to the surveillance of US allies. "It is clear to me that certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade and that the Senate Intelligence Committee wasn't satisfactorily informed," she said.