Plans for a commission with the authority to prevent people from holding public office due to ties to Russia have been scaled back in Poland.
The commission, which Poland's parliament approved in May, will look into alleged Russian meddling between 2007 and 2022.
However, the EU and the US expressed concern that its authority might be used to sway free and fair elections, and they criticized it.
Now, Polish MPs have decided to remove the contentious committee's ability to impose 10-year bans on individuals.
Initially, the commission had the authority to impose 10-year bans on anyone found guilty of acting under "Russian influence," effectively prohibiting them from holding public office.
It will specifically look into gas agreements made with Russia, which the government claims made the nation overly dependent on Moscow.
The European Commission moved unusually quickly to file a case against Poland for breaking EU regulations after the law establishing the committee went into effect on May 31.
The 10-member committee, which will likely be predominated by Law and Justice Party (PiS) MPs, was warned by both the US and the EU that it could be used to target the opposition before this fall's elections.
The main opposition party's leader and former prime minister Donald Tusk was targeted, according to Poland's opposition, which dubbed the law "Lex Tusk.".
As a result of US criticism of the law, President Andrzej Duda proposed amendments that would have taken away the committee's authority to oust anyone from public office who was allegedly acting against Polish interests.
The same MPs from the ruling party who just a few weeks prior enthusiastically supported the legislation now voted to weaken the committee's authority in an incredibly quick U-turn.
The opposition Civic Platform Party's MPs worry that the investigation, which will focus on the party's final term in office between 2007 and 2015, will try to undermine support for Mr. Tusk, who served as prime minister during this time.
The party's current chairman and leader, Mr. Tusk, who is not a member of parliament, is anticipated to run against Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in elections later this year.
The Polish Senate will now be considering the bill that would amend it.