No, FISA and Telecom Immunity Aren't Done Yet

The climax of the FISA bill I apparently promised the other night is a bit longer in coming than it seemed. The Senate is slowly going through the amendments (and so far, predictably, they've all been voted down), and the actual vote is now likely to come next week. There'll be little time before the current surveillance law expires to send the new one to conference with the House, which is likely just what the White House is intending. Barring some sort of shocker (but keep making those calls, because you never know), the Senate will pass telecom immunity, which is not a feature of the House bill. There's little reason to think that the House won't fall into line and cave along with the Senate when the time comes, but I guess without hope we just lie down and die.

One possible silver lining about the surveillance power is that it may not be as permanent as present legislation implies. If a Democratic candidate wins the White House in November--particularly if that candidate is Hillary Clinton--it'll be no time before the Republicans seek legislation to cut off the free reign of surveillance. They'd flip-flop on a dime to deny their theory of the unitary executive. That is, until the next time a Republican inhabits the Oval Office.