House Judiciary Committee votes down White House-backed detainee bill, CQ reports (sub. req.):
The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday rejected the Bush administration’s proposed ground rules for interrogation and trial of enemy combatants captured in the war on terrorism, defeating a bill that was approved last week by the Armed Services Committee.
The Q also noted that negotiations continue between the administration and Congress. “GOP leaders from both chambers were headed to the White House Wednesday afternoon to discuss the state of play on the detainee legislation.”
From this morning: CQ’s Marty Kady has an excellent state-of-play piece up now and free for all to read. Published mere hours ago, it presages but does not report the most recent turns of event:
Tuesdays in the Senate are normally reserved for catered “policy lunches” aimed at getting the party on message for the week. But things are far from normal in the Senate these days.Republicans circulated in and out of this week’s luncheon, expressing a range of opinions on issues critical to President Bush and party leaders. If there was a clear message, it wasn’t getting out… .
[n the House,] Majority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, insisted Tuesday that Republicans are on the same page.
“We see unity amongst Republicans in our willingness to give the president the tools to fight the terrorists and to help keep America safe,” Boehner said.
But in the same breath, Boehner admitted “we are still arguing about the details of those tools, I should say, trying to resolve the details of those tools.”
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