Obama made four promises in his August news conference, all of which are still works in progress. The first two were pledges to work with Congress to modify the how the government goes about collecting electronic communications.

Obama said he would support more oversight, transparency, and “constraints” on the use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows for the bulk collection and storage of domestic telephone records. Obama also said he wants to increase public confidence in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the body which approves secret government surveillance requests. Specifically, Obama endorsed adding an “adversary” to FISC proceedings who would assert privacy and civil liberties concerns against the government lawyers who now ask the court for surveillance powers without being challenged before the judges.

Behind the scenes, administration officials are talking to key members of Congress about legislative steps, although the White House has not yet publicly endorsed any specific measures. And Obama’s vague call to modify Section 215 almost is unlikely to involve his support for a bill that would end bulk collection of Americans’ phone records.