So FISA's on hold. What does that mean? |
| Published: October 18, 2007, 4:33 pm |
| Tags: fisa, senate, hold, chris dodd, parliamentary procedure, teaching |
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Now that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has put a "hold" on the Senate FISA bill, the newest FAQ is, "What does it really mean?" Here's the deal on holds, adapted from a previous answers to the question of whether or not Senator Feingold could hold the same bill: There are no real rules about holds. Holds don't really exist on their own as an independent right enshrined in the rules. They're a derivative of the Senate's preference for operating under unanimous consent. Although there are rules in existence for bringing bills to the floor over the objections of the minority, the Senate typically operates by unanimous consent, and bills that aren't cleared by the Majority and Minority Leaders (who are given the proxies of other Senators to buy into unanimous consent requests to bring bills to the floor) don't get moved. So here's how a hold works: If you want to hold a bill, you tell your party leader that if anyone asks for unanimous consent to bring that bill to the floor, you intend to [ Full article ] |
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