House Passes FISA Bill

In a late night Saturday session the House gave the president what he wanted in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill:

The Democratic-controlled House last night approved legislation President Bush's intelligence advisers wrote to enhance their ability to intercept the electronic communications of foreigners without a court order.

The 227 to 183 House vote capped a high-pressure campaign by the White House to change the nation's wiretap law, in which the administration capitalized on Democrats' fears of being branded weak on terrorism and on Congress's desire to act on the issue before its August recess.

The Senate had passed the legislation Friday night after House Democrats failed to win enough votes to pass a narrower revision of a statute known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The original statute was enacted after the revelation of CIA abuses in the 1970s, and it required judicial oversight for most federal wiretapping conducted in the United States.

As Captain Ed points out, it was the moderate to conservative Blue Dog democrats that crossed the aisle and gave this measure the votes its needed to pass. Nancy Pelosi thinks she controls the House Dems, but she's only kidding herself.