Dodd's Anti-Spying Immunity Filibuster Fizzles, But He Fights On - UPDATED
By Ryan Singel December 17, 2007 |
4:55:57 PM Categories: NSA
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) promised to filibuster a bill that would have given amnesty to the telecoms that helped the government spy on Americans without getting court warrants.
But Dodd's threat proved empty did not materialize earlier today after Senate voted 75-16 for cloture on the introduction of the Intelligence committee bill, limiting debate on the bill to 30 hours. 60 votes would have been enough to stop any move to filibuster the bill.
UPDATE: A Dodd campaign spokesman writes in to say that Dodd plans to filibuster the bill, when and if, the Senate rejects his amendment to strip immunity from the bill.Given that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) laid the groundwork so that any amendment requires 60 votes, the immunity stripping is likely to fail.
After that Dodd would need to be given time to speak and then attempt to hold the floor. There are procedural maneuvers that could stop his filibuster, but THREAT LEVEL is waiting to learn more about which arcane Senate rules would be in effect.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/12/dodds-anti-spyi.html