Today in Washington D. C. - Feb 25, 2008

On The Floor: Their Back! The Senate reconvenes at 3 PM today and following a reading of George Washington’s Farewell Address will resume consideration of the American Indian health care bill (S. 1200). A cloture vote to cut off debate on a substitute amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is expected at 5:30 PM. Work on the bill could be completed Tuesday.

Tomorrow, a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to another bill mandating troop withdrawals from Iraq is expected. Politico referred to the measure as “doomed” on Friday. A vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to a bill by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) demanding more reports from the administration on the War on Terror is also expected.

The House also reconvenes this afternoon. House GOP Conference Chairman Adam Putnam notes, “House Democrats face a stark choice: They can continue on the political course they have embraced - or they can prove that their complacency was but a momentary lapse of judgment, and give the bipartisan Senate bill the up-or-down vote it deserves.”

From Senate & News Sources: CongressDaily reports that bills concerning energy tax hikes, housing and foreclosure issues, and South American trade agreements could see floor action before Easter. The annual budget showdown is also likely to begin in the next three weeks.

Congress will begin a second week of degraded intelligence gathering thanks to House Democrats’ refusal to pass the bipartisan Senate bill modifying FISA. On Friday, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey sent a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) explaining the issues the intelligence community faces with the expiration of the Protect America Act last week. They wrote in part, “Our experience in the past few days since the expiration of the Act demonstrates that these concerns are neither speculative nor theoretical: allowing the Act to expire without passing the bipartisan Senate bill has had real and negative consequences for our national security. Indeed, this has led directly to a degraded intelligence capability.”

Matthew Continetti has an excellent piece in the Weekly Standard discussing the background of the FISA fight. Continetti writes, “Speaker Pelosi continues to indicate she will not allow a vote on the bipartisan Senate surveillance bill. This demonstrates a fundamental lack of seriousness about national security on the part of congressional Democrats.”

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