Senate Votes on Surveillance BillThe voting on the lion’s share of the amendments to the surveillance bill will take this morning and afternoon in the Senate. We’ll keep you updated as the results come in.
The first major vote was on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) amendment to make clear that FISA is the “exclusive means” by which the government could conduct surveillance. As Feinstein said in her pitch, “The President does not have the right to collect the content of Americans’ communications without obeying the governing law — and that law is FISA. Let there be no doubt: FISA has been – and continues to be – the exclusive means for electronic surveillance in this country. This amendment simply reaffirms and strengthens the existing law.”
Well, Democrats couldn’t convince enough Republicans that there should be no doubt. And the doubt will remain. The bill failed 57-41, since it needed 60 votes, according to prior agreement between Republicans and Democrats. Update: Here’s the tally for that.
We’ll keep you updated as the (probably dismal) results come in.