January 31, 2008: Senate stimulus package faces cloture vote Monday night

No Senate tomorrow

[21:01]
The Senate adjourned at 20:20. It will not meet tomorrow. It will return at 14:00 on Monday, February 4, 2008.

Senate package has lots of green in it

[18:07]
Aside from tax rebate checks, the Senate stimulus package also includes language extending tax credits for investment in alternative energy and energy-efficiency projects. These tax credits, for example, give taxpayers a credit for retrofitting businesses with solar panels (what Maria Cantwell (WA) calls a "solar conversion"). Cantwell is arguing that these tax credits have a stimulative effect by creating jobs. This language is not part of the House-passed version of the package.

Senate stimulus package does have income limitations

[17:51]
Originally, the Senate version of the stimulus package would have distributed tax rebate checks to any U.S. taxpayer making $3,000 in 2007. Democrats jumped on the absence of income limitations, imagining checks going to Gates and Buffett. Reid said that the idea made him want to gag.

Well, the Senate finance committee did indeed include income limitations in the final language of the Senate's version of the stimulus plan, which faces a cloture vote on the floor on Monday. Americans earning over $150,000/yr (or $300,000/yr for couples) will NOT get a tax rebate check. So there you go.

Hey, for all of those of you out there not exceeding the limitations, the Senate plan gives rebates of $500/person ($1000/couples) as opposed to the $600/person ($1200/couples) in the House-passed package. Well, I'm a Senate guy so I still have to pull for the Senate package.

Incidentally, the Senate version also extends expiring tax credits for energy-efficiency and alternative energy investments. Maria Cantwell (WA) is a big booster of these provisions, which she has been unable to add to other vehicles moving through the Senate.

Stimulus cloture set for 17:30 on Monday, Feb. 4

[17:36]
Reid has introduced a cloture petition for the Senate version of the economic stimulus package. That vote will be Monday evening at 17:30.

Meanwhile, Reid reiterates that he has repeatedly thought that senators had agreed a way forward on FISA reform only to see the agreement fall apart. So, in sum, there is still no agreement on how to proceed with passing a new version of the FISA wiretapping provisions.

Mitch McConnell (KY) doesn't fault the majority leader but "this has indeed been an exasperating week." He notes that there has only been one vote this week, on Monday. Actually, there were two votes on Monday, but let's not split hairs. He is hoping for a better week next week, he says. So, it sounds like that's pretty much it for Senate action this week outside of morning order speeches.

Senate version of stimulus runs into various forms of resistance

[14:48]
It seems that the version of the economic stimulus package passed out of the Senate finance committee yesterday would likely fall short in a cloture vote, failing to get 60 senators to support it.

Complicating the procedure is the absence of super-senators Clinton and Obama who will not be around until after Super Duper Tuesday. Majority leader Harry Reid (NV) yesterday acknowledged that it will be impossible for these senators to return to the Capitol until the middle of next week. Because impending votes on FISA and the stimulus package are sure to be close, the Senate schedule is taking a backseat to the presidential campaign schedule.

Chuck Grassley (IA), a finance committee Republican who did support the Senate stimulus package, is now on the floor saying that illegal immigrants are in line to get rebate checks under the language of the House-passed stimulus bill. We're gonna have to fix this, he says.

Precap:

The Senate will convene at 11:00 and according to the Senate website "recognize the majority leader." I'm not quite sure what that means. Perhaps he will address the Senate.

January 30, 2008: Deal on FISA remains elusive; $161b Senate stimulus includes checks for Gates and Buffett

Illegal immigrants on tax rebate dole?

[18:42]
John Ensign (NV) raised a specter that could well delay passage of an economic stimulus plan in the Senate. Ensign noted that under the House and Senate version of the stimulus package, tax rebate checks are assigned to persons not based on that person having a social security number but based on that person having a taxpayer identification number (TIN). This, he said, means that illegal immigrants who have applied for a TIN could receive rebate checks under the economic stimulus plan.

Anytime immigration comes up in the Senate, a fight is possible. Senators are said to be tinkering with the language in the economic stimulus bill to overcome this headache. If it remains an issue, it is foreseeable that Senate Republicans (and perhaps some Democrats like McCaskill and Tester) would hold up the bill until the matter is worked out. Of course, it is arguable that illegal immigrants who paid taxes last year as just as deserving of rebates as any other taxpayer.

No roll call votes tonight

[18:06]
A dejected and frustrated Harry Reid (NV) just spoke from the back of the chamber, not his usual rostrum. He said that there would be no more roll call votes tonight. He said that senators, he thought, had worked out a deal — on FISA or stimulus package votes I'm not sure — but that that deal fell apart. He said that these deals take two sides to complete, implying that one or two Republicans objected to the deal, enough to bring it down.

Senate is in quorum call

[17:57]
The Senate is still in session, but currently in a quorum call. Intelligence committee vice-chair Kit Bond (MO) was on the floor earlier along with two other colleagues to engage in a colloquy about the FISA bill. In a colloquy the senators arrange a discussion in order to hash out facts and myths regarding legislation or policy.

Moments ago, the Finance committee wrapped up work on its version of the stimulus package. Majority leader Harry Reid (NV) could call that legislation up on the floor later tonight.

C-SPAN2 is reporting that there is already an identity theft scheme afoot where a caller tells an individual that he must divulge personal information such as a bank account number if he wishes to get his rebate check. Senate faithful could tell you, though, that this thing ain't even law yet. Keep your personal info to your person!

Income limitations could snag stimulus in Senate

[15:22]
I am watching senators in the Finance committee react to chairman Baucus's mark-up of the House-passed version of an economic stimulus package. Baucus revised the House version of the bill in several ways, among them increasing the tax rebates awarded to senior citizens, paying them the full amount rather than the half-share that senior citizens would get under the House package.

More controversial is the expansion of the tax rebate award program to encompass all taxpayers regardless of income. The House version of the bill refuses payment to taxpayers making over $75,000/yr ($150k/yr for couples). The Senate bill would see that rebate checks in the amount of $600 ($1200 for couples) are distributed to any and all taxpayers.

Harry Reid (NV) said that the idea of sending checks to the wealthiest Americans makes him gag. Senators opposed to the idea, like Vermont's Bernie Sanders make reference to richies like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

Reid has vowed to reintroduce the payment limitations to the bill as an amendment on the floor. This would appear to frustrate Republicans happy with the Finance committee's version of the bill. Orrin Hatch (UT) is one such senator.

Senate stimulus gains strength as Grassley backs it

[13:33]
It's been a quiet day so far on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The chamber is in a quorum call, as it has been for a little while.

However, there is some action from Senate committees. The judiciary committee is meeting with AG Mukasey. Chairman Patrick Leahy (VT) questioned Mukasey once again about waterboarding. Mukasey kept up his guard and didn't directly answer questions about torture. Committee vice-chair Arlen Specter (PA) pressed Mukasey to concede that the President violated FISA by conducting domestic, warrantless surveillance of American citizens as part of his "terrorist surveillance program." Mukasey was mum.

Elsewhere, the Finance committee this afternoon will take its crack at the House-passed stimulus package, marking up the legislation with its own amendments.

As I understand, the Senate package will run about $161b, compared to the $146b package that the House passed yesterday. The Senate deal includes tax rebates for a wider range of Americans, including the elderly, whom Blanche Lincoln (AR) characterized as being left out of the House package. Also included is an extension of unemployment benefits. Republicans will contest this amendment.

Democrats like Tom Harkin (IA) want to add food stamp aid to the package. Johnny Isakson (GA) responded to this proposal by saying that senators could shore up the food stamp program by passing the waylaid farm bill.

At any rate, if aspects of the Senate package have the potential to "delay or derail" the package, it would be unemployment benefits and food stamps.

Morning business speeches

[10:11]
-Bob Corker (TN) questions the efficacy of the House-passed economic stimulus package. He wonders how many senators really believe that the stimulus package is going to do much good. We are doing this for the sake of appearing bipartisan, he says. I hate to be this crass, he says, but this is nothing more than a "political stimulus."

Interestingly, Corker references a Gregg/Conrad bill, bipartisan in nature, that would create a commission to give a hard look at our country's entitlement programs.

Precap

[10:04]
The Senate is underway, with Harry Reid (NV) on the floor bringing everyone up to speed. Late last night, the Senate passed a 15-day extension of the parts of the act set to expire this Friday.

Reid said that Jay Rockefeller (WV), Kit Bond (MO), Patrick Leahy (VT), and Arlen Specter (PA) are working together on an arrangement that would allow the Senate to proceed on its revision of the Act. Progress on revision of the Act stalled when the legislation came under attack from members of both parties for various reasons. Republicans were blocking Democrats from offering amendments to the bill unless the Democrats would agree to 60-vote thresholds on those amendments. Democrats such as Chris Dodd (CT) vowed to filibuster any revision of FISA that included retroactive immunity for telecoms. Let's see what deal the heads of the intelligence and judiciary committees can muster.

January 29, 2008: House passes a 15-day FISA extension; Senators ready stimulus amendments

Senate still going, but I must step away

[19:10]
The Senate is in a quorum call. At some point here, the party leaders will come out and explain what's been going on in the cloak room all afternoon. But I've got plans to go hear the Florida primary results with a good friend and a few brews. See you tomorrow.

Brown and Dorgan lament job losses

[18:38]
Sherrod Brown (OH) asks permission to vitiate the quorum call and speak to the House as if in morning business. C-SPAN2 shows Robert Menendez (NJ) cracking a smile in the chair, as he grants Brown permission to speak. Brown, of course, spent 14 years representing Ohio in the House before beating Mike DeWine for a senate seat in 2006.

I like Brown's energy, I must admit. He's got this gravelly voice, like he just smoked a pack of reds in the cloak room. He uses a lot of hand gestures and bounces back and forth as he talks. His speeches are getting better. For a freshman senator, he exhibits a savoir faire that's hard to come by. Another bonus, he is happy to yield to other senators for a makeshift colloquy on the floor.

And, hey, there's Byron Dorgan (ND) wanting Brown to yield for a question. They are chatting about trade agreements, among other topics. Brown and Dorgan for sure are among the most skeptical senators where new trade agreements are concerned. Brown also strikes me as a big labor guy.

Dorgan says that the economy needs more than a polish and someone singing a nice song. He cites the losses of jobs from Ohio including companies like Huffy bicycles and Etch-a-Sketch. He talks about Nabisco, the National Biscuit Company. Well, it ain't so national anymore because they make their Fig Newtons now in Mexico. You want some Mexican food? Eat Fig Newtons, he says.

Last night, President Bush urged Congress to approve free trade deals with Colombia, South Korea, and Panama. Dorgan and Brown will introduce a bill requiring that trade agreements meet certain benchmarks.

House passes 15-day FISA extension, while Senate remains in quorum call

[17:25]
The Senate has been in a long quorum call. Across the Capitol, the House has been busy. First it passed its version of an economic stimulus bill, something like 385-35. The House then passed a 15-day extension of the changes to FISA that Congress passed in August. Those provisions of FISA are set to expire Friday.

It has been a quiet afternoon in the Senate. Note that the Senate Finance committee is scheduled to "mark up" the House stimulus bill tomorrow. Marking up means rewriting the bill, at least in part, so as to reflect the interests of senators on the committee. Finance committee chairman Max Baucus (MT) has indicated that senators will indeed be offering amendments to the House-passed bill. He declined to agree that such add-ons would delay or derail the bill. President Bush last night warned senators not to alter the bill so as to delay or derail it.

15-day FISA extension is in the works

[16:34]
It appears that both houses and both parties of Congress have agreed to a 15-day extension of the current FISA law. Senators had been working to pass a revision of this law but progress on the bill stalled when Democrats wishing to amend the intelligence committee version of the legislation were met with a Republican-led amendment embargo. The White House has also indicated it would sign off on this 15-day extension, allowing senators more time to reach some agreement concerning these amendments.

One observation. It's not as though the whole FISA Act expires on Friday. Much of the FISA apparatus first passed into law in 1978 will remain intact. Expiring on Friday are only those provisions that Congress revised in August, when it passed the Protect America Act of 2007.

Harkin will offer stimulus package amendment on food stamps

[14:33]
Tom Harkin (IA) is the first senator to announce formally that he is offering an amendment to the stimulus package set to work its way through Congress beginning today in the House. Harkin, an advocate of food stamp aid, said his amendment would represent a 20% increase in food stamp aid over the next 12 months. How much is that gonna cost? Whoa! We're in for a wild ride when this stimulus hits the Senate.

Harkin is really wondering if the stimulus package negotiated by the White House and the House of Reps is going to help. I guess we'll just send everybody a check and they go spend it "on things probably made in China." He joins Byron Dorgan (ND) on the list of senators who are surmising that the stimulus package is going overseas.

Morning back-and-forth between leaders

[14:29]
While the Senate was still on recess, C-SPAN2 replayed a clip from this morning in which Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell were going back and forth about whose fault it was that a FISA revision is stalled on the floor. McConnell accused Reid of "political fingerpointing" and Reid refused to let McConnell have the final word, twice picking his microphone back up after he believed he was done speaking. Reid refuted McConnell's assertion that the FISA bill now on the floor was a "bipartisan bill." The bill on the floor is the intel's committee version of a FISA fix. There was also a version of the bill coming out of the judiciary committee, with which intel shares jurisdiction over FISA. Reid stressed that there have always been differing approaches to the bill.

Senate recesses until 14:15

[12:31]
The Senate is taking a lunch break. Back at you this afternoon. Still no deal on FISA. The act expires on Friday. Mostly speeches about the stimulus package this morning. The question is how much senators will slow down the package's progress in Congress by trying to add to its list of "stimuli".

Morning Business Speeches

[12:28]
- Judd Gregg (NH) says that the House stimulus package bothers him. He's not sure it's going to do much and in fact it could be inflationary with more debt for our kids to boot. But what scares him even more is what might happen to the stimulus in the Senate. He is afraid that "we're going to bid up" the House package. He is arguing against extending unemployment benefits. It's going to give people incentive not to go out and find a job, he says. State and local aid he says is just a grab bag of giveaways. It won't stimulate the economy and it'll slow this bill down significantly.
I congratulate the House on agreeing to a package but let's be honest, he says. The big benefit of this package is psychological. He also indicates that his Republican colleagues want to ensure that high-income persons also get the tax rebates.

- Banking committee chairman Chris Dodd (CT) responds to State of the Union address. The elephant in the State of the Union was of course that the State of the Union's in tough shape, he says. Dodd wonders why Bush didn't spend much time talking about the economy. I'm wondering what Dodd would have to say about the oversight that his banking committee practiced throughout 2007.

He wants to see some of the following added to the stimulus package: food stamps, extension of unemployment benefits. It has to be on a temporary basis, he says. And we need to do it as soon as possible. He is also calling for a raise on the loan limits, to accommodate so-called "jumbo loans." Federal law limits the amount that pseudo-governmental loan agencies such as Freddie Mac can lend to borrowers.

He is also calling, as did Byron Dorgan (ND) for a second or even a third installment of the stimulus package, to make more long-term fixes to the economy. He wants to see funding for the community development block grant funding program increased (CDBGs).

- Several senators went back and forth assigning blame and at the same time calling for cooperation on the FISA bill. I did not hear anything about an agreement on a short-term extension of the bill.

Precap:

At 10:00, the Senate convenes and begins a period of morning business. Thereafter, it resumes consideration of S. 2248, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007.

Yesterday, senators failed to invoke cloture first on the intelligence committee's version of FISA legislation; and second on legislation that would have extended the current FISA law 30 days beyond its impending Feb. 1 expiration.

Both votes were party-line.

January 28, 2008: Cloture fails on FISA bill; Republicans won't agree to a 30-day extension

Senate recesses until 20:20 this evening, for State of the Union address

[17:33]
The Senate has just recessed until this evening. I will be following the State of the Union address here tonight.

Procedural vote to add 30-day extension to current FISA law fails

[17:30]
A cloture vote on a Reid amendment that would have extended current FISA law by 30 days has just failed. The vote was 48 yea, 45 nay.

The Senate is about to recess. Until 20:20 tonight.

Now a cloture vote on a 30-day extension

[17:11]
McConnell says that the president will veto a 30-day extension. Reid says the House will pass it tomorrow morning. Reid says that we always knew that the judiciary and intelligence had concurrent jurisdiction and that this thing was gonna be tough. We want to all work to improve this, but we need some votes to do that.

Ayes: Democrats
Nays: Republicans
(perfectly party line)

A lot of senators are sitting in the seats or now standing in the well so this vote should be quick.

Democrats prevent cloture on intelligence committee's FISA bill

The cloture attempt fails. 48 yea, 45 nay. Needed 3/5 of all voting senators.

Ben Cardin (MD) is hammering that gavel. It's actually pretty effective in quieting people down.

Cloture vote on FISA legislation, pre-amendments...

[16:41]
Is it the sense of the senate that debate on the bill shall be brought to a close? The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Akaka...

Cardin (MD) votes no from the chair. Cardin has an amendment he wants to offer that would sunset the legislation in 4 years as opposed to 6.

60 votes needed

Ayes: Republicans incl. Hagel, Pryor (AR), Landrieu (LA), Lincoln (AR)
Nays: Democrats incl. Clinton (NY) and Obama (IL), Specter (PA)
(party line so far except for Specter)

Clinton and Obama are both down there in the well. Obama talking to Kent Conrad (ND) and someone else. Clinton talking with Dodd and then (now) with Harry Reid. Obama talking to Kerry. Clinton now leaving. I think Obama just kissed the cheek of a clerk and then left. Maybe he just whispered something in her ear.

Ben Nelson (NE) talking to Maria Cantwell (WA) and Dick Durbin (IL). Nelson says something and Durbin cracks up.

The senators seem to be keeping themselves to their own aisles. Sherrod Brown runs down and gives the clerk a thumbs down. Hagel votes no. I was thinking maybe he'd vote "aye" considering he has an amendment out there still waiting to get heard. Indicates a serious party line vote here.

So far Specter, who just voted "nay," is the only senator to cross the aisle on this vote. Oh, look there, Mark Pryor (AR) voting "aye" along with the Republicans. Pryor very moderate on this issue.

Mary Landrieu (LA) just changed her vote. You wonder what goes into that. Lincoln also an "aye."

I hear country music in the background on CSPAN2. Like it's playing outside the room, perhaps in the middle of the capitol in connection with tonight's state of the union.

The drumbeat of scaring the American people...is what we'll hear tonight. —Reid

The President has us in a catch-22 on FISA, he says. Reject any statement that President Bush makes about FISA in his address tonight, says Reid.

Two votes on cloture coming up. First, cloture on the intelligence committee's new FISA legislation. Second, cloture on a piece of legislation that would extend the current FISA law by thirty days. Reid will vote no in the first vote and yes in the second.

We wouldn't be in the position of sanctioning retroactive immunity if the President had come to us with his request for a program in the first place. We're a deliberative body, let us deliberate, he says.

Republicans would agree to a short-term extension of current FISA law

[16:23]
Republican leader is now recognized. The cloture vote is minutes ahead. The intelligence committee's bill was voted out of committee 13-2, which is about as good as you're gonna get around here. Unfortunately, they didn't bring the bill up until just before Christmas and "then we had to hear" a filibuster of it. He is citing the Democrats' desire to reshape the judiciary committee bill piece by piece on top of the intelligence version. That bill, he says referring to the judiciary bill, will not become law.

But, he says, Republicans would offer a short term extension if necessary. It sounds like the current law will simply be extended so that the Senate can begin in earnest its work on a stimulus package.

Dodd espies a 'parliamentary nightmare'

[16:13]
Chris Dodd, eloquent on this issue so far, is on the floor. He says that "we find ourselves in the midst of a parliamentary nightmare". And it's true really. This legislation has been filibustered by both sides of the aisle!

Dodd says that the senate finds itself in a microcosm of retroactive immunity. He mentions "the President's favorite corporations". On a bill like this one, it would be ridiculous to cut out debate, he says. The amendments offered by my colleagues are serious proposals and need serious consideration. Unconstl. reverse targeting. Something "vacuum cleaner".

"I will vote against cloture, because we haven't done our job here yet."

"Putting the rights of Bush's favorite corporations over those of U.S. citizens."

If this were an isolated incident on this administration's record, he says, he would not be out there filibustering retroactive immunity. But this is part of a pattern, he says, a pattern of abuse by this administration. He says he doesn't need to enumerate the examples but of course he then reels off Abu Ghraib, habeas corpus, secret rendition, the U.S. attorneys.

He yields the floor.
[16:22]

Republicans call for cloture, no extension of Protect America Act

[16:05]
Intelligence committee vice chairman Kit Bond (MO) urged senators to vote for cloture on the intelligence committee's version of new FISA legislation. That cloture vote occurs at 16:30 this afternoon. Saxby Chambliss (GA), speaking later, argued against a one-month or multi-month extension of the current FISA legislation, known as the Protect America Act of 2007.

Under current law, a court order is not necessarily required to for the gov't to listen to the communication of a U.S. person inside or speaking to someone in a foreign country. The idea is, a suspect makes a call. If that call goes to a U.S. person, the gov't is not going to stop listening to it. There is no time to get a court order (warrant) in that situation, Bond is now saying.

It is not clear whether it was this kind of activity that telecom companies were assisting the government in monitoring. If the new legislation grants those companies immunity, we will never know.

Ben Cardin (MD) sitting in the chair informs Bond that he is "now entering" time that the minority had reserved for the minority leader.

Bond says, "Oh. Well in that case."
[16:12]

Architect of new FISA bill urges his colleagues to vote against cloture, saying that White House has taken FISA bill hostage

[15:08]
Jay Rockefeller (WV) has risen to urge his fellow senators to vote against cloture on the FISA bill later this afternoon. Cloture limits further debate on a bill, and a successful cloture vote signals that senators are moving closer to passing a bill. The FISA bill before the senate came out of Rockefeller's own intelligence committee.

However, Republicans last week erected a blockade preventing Democrats from offering amendments to the intelligence committee's version of the bill. Rockefeller now says that he will vote against cloture as a matter of principle. Senators should vote to reassert "something called the role of Congress.... Oversight is what we do." Senators should be allowed to improve upon the bill with amendments, he says.

And, interestingly, he is saying that the White House directed senators to erect their amendment embargo on the bill so as to prevent speedy passage of a new FISA bill. For a senator to call up an amendment on the floor of the senate, unanimous consent is required. Whenever a Democrat tried to bring up an amendment last week, a Republican was there to object.

This blockade came only after senators tabled an amendment to the FISA bill that would have substituted the judiciary committee's version of the legislation for that of the intelligence committee. The judiciary committee version omitted immunity for telecom companies cooperating with the government's warrantless surveillance program. Republican senators argued that when senators tabled the judiciary substitute, they were indicating that they were rejecting the substitute wholesale. Democrats said, Wait a minute, there might still be some parts of the judiciary bill that we could all agree to add to the intelligence committee's version. The amendment blockade prevented this attempt to bring up the judiciary substitute in piecemeal fashion.

President Bush has vowed to veto any bill not containing this immunity provision. In an astounding development, Bush has now decreed that he would veto a 30-day extension of the current FISA law.

We should debate the immunity provision, says Rockefeller.

Morning Business Speeches

[15:02]
The Senate has been in session for about an hour. Several senators have spoke on various subjects:

- Majority leader Harry Reid (NV) referenced a bill that would extend the current version of FISA until July 1, 2008. He made mention of the bill but moved on.

- Minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY) made a speech about bipartisanship.

- Bob Bennett (UT) and Orrin Hatch (UT) mourned the death of a former president of the Church of Latter Day Saints, who died recently at the age of 97.

- Arlen Specter (PA) wondered why his amendment substituting the U.S. gov't as defendant for telecom companies in any suits stemming from the warrantless surveillance program that began in late 2001.

- Byron Dorgan (ND) said that a stimulus package was all well and good but he asserted that the economy has deeper structural problems that a stimulus can't fix. In an aside, he noted that the U.S. would probably borrow the $150b in the stimulus package from China and that recipients of stimulus monies would go buy Chinese goods from Walmart.

Precap:

The Senate will get a late start, gaveling in at 14:00. At 16:30, senators will vote on cloture on the intelligence committee's version of the FISA reform legislation, which includes telecom immunity.

A successful cloture vote would mean that senators are willing to limit debate on amendments to the bill. Democrats were unable last week to offer amendments to the intelligence committee's version of the bill because Republicans were objecting to any senator's request to introduce an amendment (unanimous consent is required).

Thus, with the Democrats stymied by a Republican amendment embargo, it is highly unlikely that there will be the requisite 60 votes for cloture this afternoon.

January 25, 2008: Republicans demand 60-vote threshold for amendments to FISA bill

The Senate adjourns

[13:54]
That's it for the day. Amy Klobuchar closed it down just a moment ago. The Senates resumes work at 14:00 on Monday. Don't forget that the State of the Union speech, George W. Bush's last, is slated for Monday night.

Behind the scenes, senators work on a short-term FISA extension

[13:47]
Behind the scenes, senate leaders are trying to agree a short-term extension of the current FISA law, a.k.a. the Protect America Act of 2007, which passed Congress in August but carried a 6-month sunset provision.

You bet we're in a recession, says Casey

[13:26]
You know, for a Friday on which there are no roll-call votes, there have been a lot of senators speaking on the floor today. Right now, Bob Casey (PA). He cites skyrocketing heating prices, something like an 18.9% in one year. Some of the people of Pennsylvania, he says, have felt like they were in a recession for years. He recites the stimulus package t-trio: timely, targeted, and temporary.

He is asking, where can we get bang for our buck with this stimulus? Food stamps is the best bang for the buck. We need people to spend money quickly. Unemployment benefits, he says. And aid to the states, also represent the best return for our money. He is essentially arguing that the stimulus money should go to people whom we know will spend it, not save it. People on food stamps or unemployment probably aren't doing a whole lot of saving. Give them more food stamps and perhaps they'll spend their food budget on something else. Seems reasonable. How much of the tax rebates returned to the middle class taxpayers (as Bush described them, "People earnin' a paycheck.") will get socked away? Of course, that money would be socked away at banks. So maybe this "stimulus" package is just a back-door way to get more money to banks.

As for Casey's view on the stimulus package, he doesn't quite like what he's seen so far. The Bush/House package does not include an increase in food stamp aid.

Wide-ranging Dorgan presentation includes remarks on economy

[13:14]
He started out talking about FISA. He showed a photo of a door to a room that Congress doesn't have access to. What is behind that door? he wondered. Then he talked some about the stimulus package. Then he showed a chart of all of the foreign investors buying up U.S. companies — G.E. plastics, Citigroup, and DOW Chemical. You know who gave them the money to buy these companies? he asks. We did, with our huge trade deficits.

It's true really. We print out the dollars, send them abroad. And then when our economy swoons, the dollars come back in, worth much less but buying U.S. companies. Not a sustainable situation.

Now Dorgan is talking about hedge funds, and how they need to be regulated. They have huge leverage, these funds, huge borrowing. Now $43 (?) trillion or some in credit default swaps. Derivatives. Hedging. Trading risk. A huge risk to the economy, he says. If we don't deal with these areas, we can stimulate forever and it's not going to matter.

Hedge funds are responsible for one-half of the daily trades on the New York Stock Exchange, he says.
[13:22]

Bond says, "60 votes. Period."

[~12:45]
Bond says, well, you make some good points, and you've put a lot of work into this, but, ah, it's not going to come to a vote unless y'all agree to put a 60-vote threshold on amendments to this FISA bill. Bond basically says, either we do 60 votes on amendments or we will vote against cloture (i.e. a 60-vote threshold). So either way, you need 60 votes.

However, the thing is, it's a Republican-petitioned cloture vote scheduled for Monday. Reid last night filed his own cloture petition, a vote by which would arise Tuesday. So, it's possible to have Democrats vote against cloture on Monday and then Republicans votes against cloture on Tuesday.

Who has more to lose here? President Bush has the most to lose, it seems. Imagine FISA expiring on Thursday January 31 2008 as it is set to to (sunset provision in Protect America Act). The surveillance all has to come down (wink wink nod nod). Legally anyway. The Democrats have repeatedly caved to Republican pressure in the Senate (e.g. AMT fix, FISA reform last August) because the Democratic Congress doesn't want to be seen as a failure. But public approval ratings of the Congress are already so low. What does the Democratic leadership have to lose? Make Bush come to Congress and say, fine, vote on your FISA amendments, just get me the bill.

This is a bluff by Bond and Mitch McConnell (KY). We will see if the Democrats call the bluff. As I see it, the Democrats aren't asking for that much. Up or down votes for amendments is a key tenet of the U.S. Senate, especially when the House does not allow bills to be amended. If an amendment gets 51 votes, then the people have spoken in favor of it. Refusing the people votes on a matter of constitutional rights and national security is reckless tactics.

Whitehouse offers compromise amendment on immunity

[12:17]
Well, the Senate came right back and now it's Sheldon Whitehouse (RI). He has got an amendment that would strip retroactive immunity from the bill but would substitute the U.S gov't for the telecom companies as defendants in any suits stemming from the warrantless surveillance. However, he surmises that the amendment might not be germane post-cloture. Maybe it's a situation of me not knowing my way around here yet, he says, but I don't think so. I think this amendment has merit. It's co-sponsored by Arlen Specter (PA), says Whitehouse. So this has nothing to do with me being a Democrat. Why won't the Republicans let me call this amendment up?

I've never seen this where the minority does something like a pre-emptive filibuster by preventing amendments from merely being called up. It's an amendment embargo.

The minority says why not just keep the bill that came out of the intelligence community, the one that passed 13-2 out of that committee? Yeah, says Whitehouse, I was in that committee. And a lot of us at the time stated that we foresaw the ability to make improvements to the bill on the floor. Whitehouse himself wanted to add this amendment during the committee markup but he was told at the time that it had certain technical flaws. He was led to believe he could offer it on the floor. Now that agreement has been dishonored, he says.

Senate has recessed subject to the call of the chair

[12:04]
The Senate is on recess subject to the call of the chair. It could be back in session today or that could pretty much be it for the day.

Compromise is overrated, says Cornyn

[12:02]
He was talking about the Republican retreat yesterday, which he characterized as one of the most hopeful during his time as a U.S. senator. He then goes on to say that "compromise is overrated" because it means sacrificing your positions. The people don't want compromise, he figures. Rather they want you to stand your ground and reach common sense solutions.

Dodd says warrentless spying included e-mails

[11:07]
As Chris Dodd (CT) explains it, the President's warrantless eavesdropping program included the archiving by some telecom companies of phone calls, faxes, and e-mails. Dodd is now speaking in opposition to telecom immunity on the floor. He says that there is a bigger principle in play here. It's about waterboarding, habeas corpus, the destruction of interrogation tapes, the Vice President's "art of secrecy." This is a question, says Dodd, whether we are a nation of laws or a nation of men. In a nation of laws we follow the law, in a nation of men it is men that rule above the law. Dodd is hunkering down on this issue, "the law issue" as he describes it.

He references the Church Report, saying it could have been written this morning. He contrasts the bipartisan work that went into the Church Report with the supine pose of many in Congress today.

It's not as though the FISA courts have refused requests for warrants since the inception of FISA in 1978. Over that time, the courts have approved 18, 748 warrants and refused only 5, according to the Washington Post. [*Note: Byron Dorgan (ND) later posts a board with numbers showing that 2,990 warrants have been issued versus 5 denied at the FISA court between 1975-2006.]

The President wants immunity because immunity means secrecy. And to this administration, secrecy means power. The administration's original proposal for immunity was immunity not just for the telecom companies but for everyone involved in the program. Why did they seek such broad authority to immunize every individual? Why?

If there were a trial, the corporations would walk, says Dodd. They were ordered, they patriotically complied. So why does this administration not want a trial? This is about secrecy, he says.

This is why we have a third branch of government, he says, to declare who is innocent and who is guilty. People deserve their day in court. Their rights can't be decided by the simple majority of the Senate.

Dodd concludes his remarks by asking that his fellow senators vote against cloture on the bill on Monday.

[10:33]
Kit Bond (MO), vice chair of the intelligence committee, says that Republicans will allow the Senate to vote on Democratic amendments to the FISA bill but only if both sides agree that such amendments would pass only with 60 votes.

Bond is out there on the floor calling for bipartisanship and asking the other side of the aisle to end its partisan attempt to pick apart the FISA bill as it was reported out of the intelligence committee. Yet, I would ask him, Whatever happened to the simple process of offering up amendments to a bill and giving them an up-or-down vote by which fifty-one yeas means the amendment is added to the bill? He does not give much of a reason for why the FISA amendments should withstand the 60-vote test, other than to say that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) does not support the amendments and therefore the President won't sign off on them either.

January 24, 2008: Judiciary committee's improvements to FISA bill fail, meaning a filibuster is ahead

[20:08]
The Senate has adjourned. A very frustrated Harry Reid said that the Senate would open business again at 9:30 tomorrow morning but "due to the parliamentary situation created by the Republicans" no roll-call votes will occur.

Small talk turns to stimulus

[19:24]
After another day of partisan wrangling that brought a halt to FISA reform, senators have turned their focus to the impending stimulus package. Maria Cantwell (WA) was on the floor earlier urging that senators include funding for alternative energy in the form of wind power. Now Tom Harkin (IA) is asking what happened to the food stamp funding that was supposed to be in the bill? How much is it going to help if the taxpayer goes out and spends his rebate on a flat screen TV made in China. Maybe a little, he concedes, but not much. What about the low-income heating assistance that was supposed to be part of the package?

From what I understand, taxpayers can expect a tax rebate check in June. June? What happened to timely, targeted, and temporary? June!?

Will the stimulus package, like many things, die in the main aisle of the Senate?

FISA cloture vote scheduled

Cloture on the intelligence committee version of the FISA bill is scheduled for 16:30 on Monday. Cloture is unlikely to be successful. Democrats, unable to offer amendments to the bill, will vote no.

Republican blockade

[17:23]
Republicans are now refusing to let a series of amendments to the FISA bill come to an up or down vote. Many of these amendments contain provisions identical to those in the judiciary substitute version of the bill that was cut down this morning.

Among those amendments that Republicans are refusing to allow come to a vote:

- Sunsetting the new FISA bill in four years as opposed to six
- Making FISA the sole means by which the gov't can conduct wireless surveillance
- The Feingold amendment calling for Congressional access to FISA court pleadings
- A provision mandating that if the conversation of an innocent American is stumbled upon in the process of warrantless surveillance, that the eavesdropping cease (duh!)
- Retroactive immunity for complicit telecom companies

So what we've got is more of the same stalling from Republicans. Why not just let these matters come up for an up or down vote? asks Reid, who is now asking that Republicans at least allow Reid to propose an extension of the current law.

Mitch McConnell (KY) is poised to present a cloture petition on the bill. That cloture vote could occur on Monday. Reid said he'd vote against cloture because he believes these matters need to be debated and voted on.

A Feingold amendment calling for more oversight privileges

[15:07]
Russ Feingold (WI) has introduced an amendment requiring the executive branch to report to Congress any court pleadings it submits to the FISA court which ask for a novel interpretation of FISA law. Presumably, this is in response to the Bush administration's belief that it could wiretap without warrants in the wake of 9/11. For example, there was Alberto Gonzales's argument as White House counsel that the Congressional authorization to use force in the wake of 9/11 gave the President the power to conduct warrantless surveillance.

Bond has a problem with the amendment. He says that the pleadings have always been kept confidential because they contain sensitive information such as sources, methods, and assets/informers of the intelligence committee. He says that if the pleadings are shared with Congress then "the whole framework of the intelligence committee could be brought down." This sounds a bit extreme. Why would members of Congress share sensitive information with the public or with our enemies?

Bond offers a second-degree amendment to the Feingold amendment stripping it of its requirement that Congress see pleadings.

Feingold says, my amendment says that certain sensitive information can be redacted from the pleadings that Congress sees. Feingold says, This is a classic example of hiding behind a tragedy. Bond's argument has no merit, he says.

The representatives of the people need to know, in a classified setting, what this government is doing, says Feingold. Listen close, he says, because this argument is going to be made "on every aspect of this bill."

Americans Abroad

[14:59]
The Senate is now working on amendments to FISA. Current business is a Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) amendment working a provision into FISA to ensure that Americans abroad won't have their conversations listened to without a court order from the FISA court. Probable cause would be required for a warrant. For example, probable cause would be that the U.S. person is an agent of a foreign power or has information relating to terrorism.

Bond urges his colleagues to support it.

Judiciary's version of bill fails

[14:28]
Senate votes down judiciary substitute 60-34, thereby voting for retroactive immunity for telecoms. Votes on more amendments ahead. Reid now saying that amendments will go title 1 first, title 2 second. Title 2 is the retroactive immunity provision.

Reid did mention something about an amendment in the works that will be offered by Rockefeller and Dodd (CT). Dodd promised a filibuster if retroactive immunity remained in the bill. Is a compromise afoot?

[14:09]
Here are the votes on a motion to kill the FISA substitute, which unlike the intelligence committee's version of the bill does not provide immunity for telecom companies that allowed the gov't to eavesdrop on communications without warrants:

Republicans so far are voting yes, Democrats no —

Dems aye: Bayh (IN), Mikulski (MD), Pryor (AR), Inouye (HI), Lieberman (CT), Salazar (CO), McCaskill (MO), Nelson (FL), Carper (DE), Johnson (SD), Nelson (NE), Landrieu (LA)
Repubs no:

The substitute is going to be killed — now we will see what a filibuster really looks like.

60 yeas, to 34 nays. Motion to table is agreed to.

Judiciary's version of the bill

[14:02]
There is now a roll call vote on the judiciary's substitute bill, which would rework the intelligence committee bill in 12 ways. The vote is on a motion to table the substitute, 50 votes needed to kill the judiciary substitute.

Here are some of the ways that the judiciary committee's substitute amendment would change the FISA bill now on the floor.

One, it would introduce an exclusivity provision, explicitly stating that adhering to FISA is the only way to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance, pre-empting any Bush-type claim that the executive is allowed to work outside the law.

Second, it would not allow retroactive immunity for telecom companies being sued for their part in helping the gov't listen in on private communication without a court order (as FISA requires).

Three, it sunsets the reauthorization of FISA in four years instead of six.

Four, it makes clear that the Senate's resolution to authorize force in the wake of 9/11 did not give the president the authority to eavesdrop on Americans without a court order.

Five, it gives the FISA court oversight authority over the way the executive branch conducts foreign surveillance.

Judiciary Commmittee versus Intelligence Committee

[13:59]
There is something of a turf war underway concerning the revision of FISA in the senate. Two committees have jurisdiction over FISA — intelligence and judiciary. Harry Reid brought the intelligence bill to the floor, meaning judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (VT) had to offer the judiciary's bill as an amendment. Intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (WV) has voiced his opposition to the judiciary bill. In response, Leahy has vowed to bring up the judiciary bill piece by piece, which would take a long time to work through on the floor via roll call votes.

And, said Leahy, all of the amendments would be germane and therefore could be brought up after cloture.

[10:11]
Now Kit Bond (MO), ranking member of the intelligence committee.

[10:08]
Jay Rockefeller (WV), chairman of the intelligence committee, is now speaking about the two FISA bills before the Senate. One contains retroactive immunity for telecoms (the Leahy bill) and one does not (the bill that came out of the intel committee). Both bills contain sunset provisions, either four or six years, respectively.

Roll call votes are expected to occur throughout the day in relation to FISA amendments.

Dodd sets stage set for debate over retroactive immunity for snooping telecoms

Yesterday's session ended with Chris Dodd (CT) promising to stop any revision of FISA that included retroactive immunity for telecom companies that helped the Bush administration listen in on private communications following the Sept. 11 2001 attacks. Dodd argued that the program did not last for two or three months but went on for five years. If we grant retroactive immunity, said Dodd, we will never know the full extent of the program. He explained one report of the program which described an AT&T hub in San Francisco that routed every call and text to an NSA server for archiving.

There is one crucial issue which I cannot quite figure out. Were the wiretapped conversations always involving (at least) one party overseas? That is to say, (1) either the call came from abroad or (2) the call originated in the U.S. but was made to a party abroad. Or, were some of the wiretapped conversations made from one domestic party to another?

This is some of what Dodd had to say yesterday:

“If after debate, the Senate appears ready to pass legislation granting telecom providers retroactive immunity I will use any and all legislative tools at my disposal, including a filibuster, to prevent this deeply flawed bill from becoming law.”

On his website, Dodd states:

When the Senate first considered this legislation on December 17, Senator Dodd defeated the attempt to pass the bill. Dodd objected to the bill early in the morning and remained on the floor for almost ten hours, taking a stand for the rule of law and the Constitution with his statements throughout the day. At approximately 7:30 P.M. Majority Leader Reid announced the FISA reform bill would be pulled from the Senate calendar and reconsidered in January.

January 23, 2008: Dodd promises a filibuster if telecom immunity remains in FISA bill

[20:27]
The Senate adjourned at 19:39. It's back tomorrow at 9:30 when senators will resume consideration of S. 2248, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance bill.

[19:37]
Dodd has promised to "talk for awhile about the rule of law" if attempts to strip retroactive immunity from the proposed revision of FISA do not succeed. Leahy will offer a "substitute" version of the bill that would not include retroactive immunity for telecom companies. If that doesn't work, Dodd himself would offer a more simple amendment stripping immunity from the bill. If that doesn't work, then Dodd will use whatever tools he says are available to one senator, i.e. filibuster. "I don't think I've ever done this before," he says.

[19:13]
The Senate is still humming. Speeches have turned to the topic of surveillance law, which the Senate will begin considering in earnest tomorrow.

Right now Chris Dodd (CT) is speaking. Recall that he was one of the most vocal opponents in December of the provision in one of the proposed FISA bills that would grant retroactive immunity to phone companies that complied to a Bush administration request to eavesdrop on communications despite not having a court order.

There are two versions of the bill out there, differing in ways including whether or not they grant retroactive telecom immunity. The Leahy substitute, as its known, does not includes the immunity provision.

Dodd says he "fears that retroactive immunity will return, and I will fight it again."

[13:22]
There was a development yesterday in the Senate's effort to re-work the wiretapping/surveillance provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Majority leader Reid (NV) propounded a unanimous consent request to extend the current FISA law — known as the Protect America Act of 2007 and passed last August under the lazy eyes of Senate Democracts — beyond the law's expiration on February 1.

Clearly Reid was trying to buy time. Minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY) objected to this request, however. This leaves the Senate where it left off in 2007 — in the position of wanting to revise the poorly written 2007 version of FISA but caught in a bind between White House demands for telecomm company immunity and libertarian democrat promises to filibuster any FISA update granting such immunity.

McConnell stated that there was enough time to work on a revision before the February 1 deadline. Reid has said that the Senate will work on the bill through the weekend if it cannot reconcile two separate version of the bill that Reid will introduce on Thursday.

The Senate passed the Protect America Act by a 60-28 vote on August 3 (with 12 no votes). Senators later expressed regret for hastily passing a measure in the face of White House cries about gaps in America's ability to properly monitor terrorists. All 28 "nays" came from Democrats, including Clinton (NY) and Obama (IL).

[12:51]
The House has again failed to override the Bush S-CHIP veto.

[12:48]
While the Senate is away at lunch, a quick look back to yesterday’s vote to pass a revision of the Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008.

Bush had surprisingly vetoed this bill over the winter break citing its failure to exempt the current Iraqi government from suits stemming from Hussein-era abuses. The House last week passed a version of the bill including said immunity. Yesterday, the Senate followed suit by a vote of 91-3, the nays being Byrd (WV), Feingold (WI), and Sanders (VT).

As you might recall, the Senate originally passed this legislation way back in October by a vote of 92-3. The three nays on that were Byrd, Coburn (OK), and Feingold.

The conference report passed the Senate on Dec. 14 by a vote of 90-3, the nays being Byrd, Feingold, and Sanders.

[12:34]
The Senate has recessed for lunch. At 2:15 p.m., the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1200, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

[12:26]
The Senate is underway but action is minimal so far on this Wednesday. C-SPAN2 reports that there won’t be any votes until 17:00 because Republicans are having a party retreat on Capitol Hill. Later this afternoon senators will speak about amendments to the Indian health care bill now before the chamber.

The House today is voting yet again on a veto override for S-CHIP. This is the third such vote.

January 22, 2008: As Senate returns, Reid prioritizes stimulus package

[15:14]
Arlen Specter (PA) is now introducing two bills pertaining to the now-much-anticipated economic stimulus package. Specter is calling for true bipartisanship (he sounds guardedly optimistic but I hear some skepticism in his voice).

Specter was glad to see Bennie B. slashing rates this morning. He wants to see rates dropped even further, from 3.5% to 3%. The stimulus package he has introduced includes among other things, allowances for companies to depreciate items more quickly (e.g. for an item with a 20-yr depreciation timeline, a company could take 50% of the remaining depreciation against incomes for this current year).

Now Specter is talking about a trip he took over the recess. He was supposed to meet with slain Pakistani ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto the day after she was killed.

[14:49]
The Senate is currently in quorum call. Later this afternoon, senators will vote on legislation to improve health care for Native American peoples. It allows up to $16b for health care for Indians over the next five years while other provisions extend to 2017. The vote is scheduled for 17:30.

[10:46]
Now minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY) is issuing his 2008 debut speech. He has talked about economic stimulus, success of the surge, Republican willingness to pass decent bills. He urged the other side of the aisle to extend tax cuts and warned that an offset of the AMT will not pass. After all of that, he quickly mentioned that Republicans would continue to fight excess government spending. I don’t think Reid even addressed spending or the deficit or the impending implosion of pay-go, etc.

[10:26]
They're baaaaaack! They being the U.S. Senate, the second session of the 110th Congress.

Majority leader Harry Reid (NV) is talking about bipartisanship vs. obstructionism. He has used the word "change" twice already. This is his first floor speech of the year.

He has talked about the economy, the war. He says that the first thing Congress has to work on is an economic stimulus package. To be effective, he says, the package must be timely, targeted, and effective. This was the terminology Bernanke used. Did you see by the way that Bennie and the Feds cut the fed rate by three-quarters of a percent today!

OK, so the agenda is: (1) stimulus package; (2) health care for native Americans; (3) revision of the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA). Somewhere in there, the Senate will vote on a slightly revised version of the vetoed Defense Authorization bill. Last week, the House passed a version of the bill that conceded to the White House’s request to delete a provision in the bill allowing Iraqis to sue the new government for damages incurred during the Hussein regime. Bush vetoed the bill on the basis of this provision alone. Reid seems to say that the Senate is amenable to passing the new version of the bill.

Wicker will take over for departed Lott; State's AG seeks early special election

Republican congressman Roger Wicker is the new senator from Mississippi. He takes over for Trent Lott, who resigned from the Senate in December. Wicker was the choice of Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, who had the power to select a temporary replacement for Lott.

Mississipians are scheduled to vote in a special election Nov. 4 to decide on a more permanent replacement for the seat, the term of which expires in 2012. Wicker is presumed to be the Republican candidate in that special election.

The special election could arrive sooner than Nov. 4 if the state's Democratic attorney general, Jim Hood, has any success with a complaint he has brought in state court urging the court to set an earlier election date. Hood argues for a different interpretation of the state law determining when the state must hold a special election in the wake of a sitting senator's departure.

Hood might have a decent argument. Under Mississippi law, the special election is supposed to be held no later than 100 days after a sitting senator leaves his seat UNLESS the vacancy occurs during a year when "there shall be held a general state or congressional election."

However, Lott resigned in 2007, a year when there is not a general state or congressional election. Recall that Lott emphatically made sure he was resigning before the dawn of 2008, presumably to avoid stricter prohibitions on lobbying his former colleagues (e.g. the new revolving door law would require departing senators to wait two years, not one, before lobbying legislators).

So Hood could be on to something here. If he is successful in court, Mississipians would be voting for a new senator in April.