Even Fox isn’t buying Wisconsin Sen. Majority Leader Fitzgerald’s (R) claim that President Obama is behind the recall efforts against members of his caucus.

We’re still trying to clarify the details. But it looks like Wisconsin Republicans have decided to make their move, redefining the union-busting portions of the budget bill as non-budgetary and voting through those provisions tonight.

The irony here is that the union-busting provisions really are not budgetary — they’re simply an attempt to eliminate unions in the state. But Gov. Walker’s argument throughout has been that they are budgetary measures and necessary to avert fiscal catastrophe.

More details as we get them.

Late Update: Word we’re getting is that the state unions were basically caught flat-footed by this move, did not see it coming.

Eric Kleefeld has the latest on the late-in-the-day parliamentary maneuverings in Wisconsin, where progressive groups are sounding the alarm via email trying to rally supporters to head to the Capitol.

In a brief meeting that lasted barely five minutes, Wisconsin Republicans appear to have jammed through the union-busting, anti-collective-bargaining provision that has been the focus of the protests and political turmoil in the state for the past month.

Here, as best we understand it, is what just happened:

The Republican leadership convened a special conference committee late in the day to take up the collective bargaining provision only, separate and apart from the budget bill it was a part of. By a vote of 4-2, the conference committee just approved sending the union-related provisions alone to the floor of each chamber.

And here’s the key part: Because it’s no longer part of a budget bill, the collective bargaining provision can now get a final vote in the Senate with or without the Senate Democrats who fled the state to deny Republicans a quorum. It renders their protest-by-absence moot.

It also throws gas on the political fire Gov. Walker has set. Much more on this tomorrow and as developments warrant.

The Wisconsin state Senate has just passed the anti-collective-bargaining provisions. The vote was 18-1. That’s all Republicans voting. One moderate GOPer voted no. As far as we know, the state Democratic senators were still in Illinois when the vote happened.

A couple of pics from the state Capitol taken in the last hour here and here.

State Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D) released the following statement this evening:

In thirty minutes, 18 State Senators undid fifty years of civil rights in Wisconsin.

Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten.

Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people.

Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government.

TPM Reader SG checks in from Wisconsin:

It’s not just the budget bill needs a quorum — the big issue is that *any* bill with fiscal implications is supposed to have a quorum in the Wisconsin state Senate. So there are two choices here:

1. Collective bargaining has fiscal implications, and so the bill will be blocked in the courts and ruled unconstitutional.

2. Collective bargaining DOES NOT have direct fiscal implications, and Gov. Walker has been lying this entire time by making the case that it’s fiscally necessary.

So either the state R’s just passed an illegal bill, or Walker has been lying this entire time and really is just interested in union-busting.

Gov. Scott Walker, on tonight’s end run:

The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused. In order to move the state forward, I applaud the Legislature’s action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform government. The action today will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs.

GOP lobbying powerhouse BGR Group to throw fundraiser next week in DC for Wisconsin Republican leadership.

Karl Rove’s outfit Crossroads GPS manages to bring together the nation’s biggest teachers union and the CATO Institute in saying the new GPS ads are full of it.