Debate Goes On

I just wanted to pop in with an update for what's going on in the Senate regarding FISA.

Right now, Senator Dodd remains on the Senate floor, speaking out on FISA and retroactive immunity whenever he has had the opportunity. This is not the filibuster.

Earlier today a cloture vote on the motion to proceed passed, as expected. We're now waiting for the Senate majority and minority leadership to establish the ground rules for debate on amendments to the underlying FISA bill by the Intelligence Committee.

Once those rules are established, we expect the Senate to begin by debating the Dodd-Feingold Amendment, which would strip retroactive immunity from the underlying bill. If that Amendment fails to pass, Senator Dodd will seek to hold the floor and filibuster the underlying bill. He will speak for as long as he can.

Keep watching C-SPAN 2 to follow the debate about FISA and retroactive immunity. We'll keep you posted with updates - there's still a long way to go in this process and contrary to reports by the New York Times and CQ Politics, the telecom companies have not yet won anything.