The Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up a bill (HR 2471) on Thursday from Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that would require law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before accessing consumers' emails or data stored in the cloud. If passed, the legislation would be one of the first updates to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act since it was enacted in 1986. While some prosecutors and Republicans have expressed reservations about limiting law enforcement access to information, privacy and civil liberties advocates have begun lining up in support of the legislation. The bill is expected to win committee approval, but may encounter more resistance from the GOP on the Senate floor. At present, the House appears unlikely to pass any legislation that would limit the investigations of law enforcement officials in any way.

White House Opposes STEM Visa Bill: The House is set to begin floor consideration of STEM Visa bill (HR 6429) on Thursday that would abolish the visa lottery program and award those 55,000 green cards to foreigners who earn graduate degrees in STEM fields from American universities. Votes are expected Friday on the bill, which would give preference to candidates who hold a doctoral degree. The House rejected the bill in September under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority, but the legislation is expected to pass this time with a simple majority under a regular rule for debate. However, the Obama administration released an official statement on Wednesday outlining its opposition to the legislation, and arguing that any expansion of skilled immigration needs to come as part of broader comprehensive immigration reform. Quotable: "The Administration is deeply committed to building a 21st-century immigration system that meets the Nation's economic and security needs through common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform. As a part of immigration reform, the Administration strongly supports legislation to attract and retain foreign students who graduate with advanced STEM degrees, to establish a start-up visa for foreign-born entrepreneurs to start businesses and create jobs, and to reform the employment-based immigration system to better meet the needs of the U.S. economy. However, the Administration does not support narrowly tailored proposals that do not meet the President's long-term objectives with respect to comprehensive immigration reform." — Statement of Administration Policy on HR 6429 Goodlatte to Lead House Judiciary Committee: House Republicans chose Bob Goodlatte on Wednesday to lead the Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, ensuring the panel will once again have a chairman strongly devoted to intellectual property protections online. The Virginian currently serves as chairman of the panel's Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, and will replace Texan Lamar Smith, who was named chairman of the Science Committee on Wednesday. Along with Smith, Goodlatte was one of the primary sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act, an anti-piracy bill that was shelved after widespread opposition from tech companies and the Internet community earlier this year. Goodlatte's elevation to full committee chair means IP issues will likely also be elevated, with Hollywood and the rest of the content community confident they have another strong ally in their ongoing fight to go after IP violations online. Lee Terry Will Lead Commerce Subcommittee: House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., announced Wednesday that Lee Terry of Nebraska will replace the recently-defeated Mary Bono Mack of California as chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. Bono Mack focused on privacy and data breach regulations as chairman of the subcommittee, but was never able to convince Upton to give her data breach bill a prime-time slot at full committee markup. Bono Mack also drove a resolution against greater United Nations control of the Internet, a topic that is expected to come up at this month's International Telecommunications Union conference in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Upton also named Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania to lead the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, replacing the defeated Cliff Stearns of Florida. Stearns took an active interest in telecom policy issues during his tenure. Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon will remain head of the crucial Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

Updated at 9:25 a.m. to correct the bill number in the first item.