Filibuster Round 2

The GOP leadership was trying to get unanimous consent to vote on the bills today but Rand refused. Now they will have to begin procedural votes at 1 am ET.
 
US Senate poised for all-night voting session on NSA reform bill

The US Senate was poised for an all-night voting session on NSA reform after the Republican leadership was unable to ram through a temporary extension of surveillance powers.

Senate leader Mitch McConnell had been hoping to get unanimous consent to push through an extension of the controversial Patriot Act for either one or two weeks to allow senators to return home for Memorial Day recess.

However, such a deal requires the consent of all 100 senators and Kentucky Republican Rand Paul made clear he was opposed.

The result is that, under Senate rules, that body cannot take under consideration the USA Freedom Act, the NSA reform bill overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives last week, until 1AM EDT on Saturday morning.
 
Go Rand! No matter how it turns out I can only see his filibusters and fighting for our liberties helping him in the race for nomination. I'm sure he's gained new supporters and probably has opened a lot of eyes.
 
I'm not familiar with the procedural rules, does anyone know if there is a way for Rand to delay/interfere with the vote at 1am from taking place? Would be fantastic if Rand could further delay it, but from the articles I'm reading it sounds like 1am is the furthest Rand can push it back, after that they can force the vote to take place.
 
I think the issue is Rand getting the floor to speak, which will never happen during this vote. I don't know that there is any other way to delay the vote.
Looks like you are right.

 
In that case, hopefully it fails the 60 votes needed to pass. Unfortunately I get the sense many Senators are going to fold. Pro Freedom Act Senators are either gong to fold and vote for the 2 month extension, or those on the pro extension side will fold and vote for the Feedom Act. Guess we will see
 
Maybe he seize the floor and the seargent-at-arms will have to drag him out of the building.
 
Oh this is too good. I hope there is going to be some cancelled flights and hotel reservations.

I hope McConnell is wearing a Hawaiian shirt with sandals and giving Rand the absolute stink eye
 
Rand Paul still holding up surveillance bill
And Senate Republicans find themselves divided over government surveillance programs as they lurch closer to deadline.

By Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett
5/22/15 10:50 AM EDT

Rand is still standing.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the libertarian firebrand and GOP presidential hopeful, isn’t showing any sign he’ll relent and allow speedier votes in the Senate on controversial government surveillance programs, as weary and recess-hungry senators trudged through a rare Friday session with a packed to-do list.

Paul said Friday that he hasn’t yet agreed to accelerate procedural votes — currently set for Saturday — on dueling proposals to renew expiring provisions in the PATRIOT Act. He had signaled that he might relent if he secured votes on privacy amendments, but shortly before 10 p.m. he said leadership wasn’t budging.

“We’re not quite at a point where they’ll agree to let us to have amendments,” Paul told reporters. “They’re going to have to either try to work with us or we’ll be here all weekend.”

Paul then hopped into a waiting car and took off into the night as the Senate prepared for 1 a.m. procedural votes on the PATRIOT Act.

The long list of demands from Paul, who held the Senate floor for nearly 11 hours this week railing against the PATRIOT Act, is unrealistic in the view of many of his colleagues.

“We’d like to end bulk collection, we’d like to end the backdoor 702 searches, we’d like to prevent the government from mandating to private companies that they have to give their source code up and give a backdoor entry into their products,” Paul said, ticking off his asks one by one. “We’d like to say that information gathered under a terrorist warrant that doesn’t have a constitutional standard could not be used to convict someone of a domestic crime. There’s evidence now the DEA is using sub-constitutional warrants for drug cases as well as IRS cases.”

...

read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/mitch-mcconnell-criticize-house-surveillance-bill-118211.html
 
Up All Night: Senate Waits to Vote on Patriot Act's Future
“Will be seeing everyone overnight it seems,” Sen. Rand Paul tweeted. “My filibuster continues to end NSA illegal spying.”

BY DUSTIN VOLZ
May 22, 2015

No deal yet.

Senators continued their debate Friday night without resolution on how to move forward on expiring provisions in the Patriot Act—and it looks like they may be on Capitol Hill all night.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell huddled together his rank-and-file late Friday afternoon, but deep schisms within the party are still present as supporters for the USA Freedom Act, which would end the NSA's bulk collection of call data, remained dug in.

And Sen. Rand Paul vowed to continue blocking efforts to extend the expiring Patriot Act's surveillance authorities, a pledge that comes as a second act to his 10-and-a-half hour floor takedown of government surveillance earlier in the week.

"Will be seeing everyone overnight it seems," Paul tweeted. "My filibuster continues to end NSA illegal spying."

Paul told reporters he is still negotiating with leadership. "We're not quite at a point where they'll agree to let us have the amendments," he said . "We're going to run the clock, and they're going to have to either try and work with us or we'll be here all weekend."

During a lag in between votes on the fast-track trade bill, Paul and McConnell talked one-on-one briefly in the middle of the Senate floor as other lawmakers chatted around them. Their conversation appeared congenial, but Paul soon walked away and exited to chamber. Minutes later, his Twitter account announced his holdup, and McConnell announced a delay on the floor soon after.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act, admitted that Paul is getting on the nerves of his fellow senators.

...

read more:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/NSA-Patriot-Act-Rand-Paul-20150522
 
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