GOP Pushes FISA Aside For Economic Stimulus
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, "Just as soon as we have an understanding about how we're going to go forward on the stimulus package, then we'll be able to make progress on this [FISA] bill."
In November, the House passed the RESTORE bill, which would modify FISA (written in 1978) but which did not provide immunity from lawsuits. A 1 February deadline came and went after Congress passed a 15-day extension, which Bush signed. After last week's filibuster votes, both sides had agreed to begin voting Tuesday on a limited set of amendments.
But now the Republicans want to shift focus to the economy while the clock runs down. If the Senate passes a different version of the bill from the House version, then a conference committee has to hammer out a compromise. Each day without movement on the bill increases the odds that the deadline will not be met.
Related: What is cloture? ; What is FISA? ; What is the RESTORE Act? ; What is the wiretapping issue? ; What happened in August to make warrantless wiretaps temporarily legal? ; FISA Reports to Congress, 1979-2006 ; Getting To Know Your Government: The Senate
