Bush Loyalists Struggle To Save His Legislative Plans

WASHINGTON — White House loyalists struggled yesterday to save President Bush's wartime legislative plans from collapsing under Republican squabbles. In cliffhanger votes, a House committee rejected, then endorsed Mr. Bush's proposal to continue tough interrogations of suspected terrorists.

The tug-of-war on the House Judiciary Committee was evidence of the difficulty that Mr. Bush is having in lining up support for his proposals on suspected terrorist detainees weeks before the November elections.

Democrats sat on the sidelines "watching the catfights" among Republicans on surveillance and detainee legislation, the minority leader, Senator Reid, a Democrat of Nevada, said.

He noted that the majority leader, Senator Frist, a Republican of Tennessee, was forced to postpone consideration of those bills this week and that senators are debating border security "because they have nothing else to do."

Committee Republicans performed a series of procedural gymnastics. After an initial vote resulted in a 20–17 count against the measure, GOP aides wrangled two absent members — Reps. Henry Hyde of Illinois and Elton Gallegly of California — for four more votes to turn the rejection into an endorsement. The proceedings became muddled as Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican of Wisconsin, asked members to repeat their votes.

"I voted no, yes," Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican of Texas, said at one point.

The "favorable rating," while not required to send the bill to a full House vote, was worth the fight for White House loyalists struggling to keep the bill alive in the waning days of the congressional session. Prospects were not much clearer in the Senate, where the White House and a group of dissenting Republicans were in talks over the detainee bill. One Republican predicted the House would accept any deal worked out between the White House and opposition senators.

"If the Senate and the White House have reached an agreement, that is probably what would end up becoming law and making its way to the president's desk," House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Republican of Michigan, said.

The House Intelligence Committee approved by voice vote a bill that would put into law the administration's warrentless wiretapping program. The sponsor, Rep. Heather Wilson, a Republican of New Mexico, had rewritten the measure to make it more Mr. Bush's liking. The Judiciary Committee later endorsed a similar version, 20–16.

But Ms. Wilson's revision, likely to draw Mr. Bush's support, is the bill that probably will make it to the full House.

The concession on imminent attacks would come at a price for the president.

Under Ms. Wilson's revised bill, the president may only conduct the secret surveillance under specific conditions. For example, the president must notify Congress within five days of authorizing the surveillance, name the entity that poses the threat, and state the reason for believing the attack is imminent.

Even if the House and Senate pass versions of the wiretapping legislation in the next week, the differences would not be resolved until after the November 7 elections, Ms. Wilson said.