The Republican Party just defeated cloture on the 30 day extension to the Protect America Act by a vote of 48-45. 60 votes were needed to win. The full roll call for the vote is here.

As a result, there is a good chance that the PAA to sunset on February 1st. This will likely only have political ramifications and not impact our intelligence community’s activities. However, the GOP has clearly decided to make this a political issue. Don’t be surprised if President Bush tries to blame Democrats for failing to pass exactly the bill he wants tonight in the State of the Union.

Glenn Greenwald has this quick analysis:

Reid, however, indicated that it was certain that the House will vote in favor of an extension tomorrow, which means it will be sent to the Senate for another vote. It’s possible, then, that the Senate will vote again later in the week on an extension, but it’s hard to imagine any Republicans ever voting in favor of an extension since Bush has vowed to veto it.

By blocking an extension, Republicans just basically assured that the PAA — which they spent the last seven months shrilly insisting was crucial if we are going to be Saved from The Terrorists — will expire on Friday without any new bill in place. Since the House is going out of session after tomorrow, there is no way to get a new bill in place before Friday. The Republicans, at Bush’s behest, just knowingly deprived the intelligence community of a tool they have long claimed is so vital. Is the media going to understand and be able to explain what the Republicans just did? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.

It looks like the Senate will resume debate on FISA tomorrow, though I don’t yet know if or when they will next vote on any amendments to the underlying Intelligence Committee bill.

Cross posted at the CREDO Blog.