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FISA Cloture Vote Monday - 4:30 PM |
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All day, Republicans have been filibustering. They have refused to allow up or down majority votes on amendments like those stripping telecom immunity. Now, Republicans have filed for cloture. The cloture vote will occur at 4:30 pm on Monday.
This means that we have until then to convince 41 Senators not to vote for cloture. If cloture fails, Republicans can either continue filibustering, or they can allow majority votes on amendments. Some amendments may pass (though probably not ones stripping immunity), but some of those that may pass (like ones dealing with minimization) will cause Bush to veto the bill. This is good. The Protect America Act, which expanded FISA’s powers greatly, will sunset on February 1st and Bush will then be responsible for killing his own “very important” FISA legislation.
So, put pressure on your Senators between now and Monday to reject cloture!
There is a chance we can win this thing if we can just flip a handful of Senators. Please do your part!
A slight correction: FISA will not sunset. The most inappropriately named Protect America Act (the one that gave the Bush Admin virtually unrestricted powers to invade our privacy) is what will sunset. The Original FISA law–the one that has worked for 30 years, the one that the Bush bunch has repeatedly violated–will still be in effect, providing an easy and orderly means by which to obtain legal authorization to spy on presumed terrorists. Letting the PAA expire without a new law is the best thing that we could do for our civil rights AND our national security.
Good point, will clarify.
What happened to Chris Dodd? Wasn’t he supposed to be filibustering this legislation? Hello?
It will come. If cloture succeeds, then the Senate will begin voting on the bill with immunity. That’s when the filibuster comes into play.