You thought it was over.
Yet just days after bloggers conducted a nationwide hunt for one — then two — senators responsible for placing “secret” holds on a porkbusting database bill, an unnamed Democratic senator has placed a third secret hold on the porkbusting database bill, Cox News reports.
It’s not clear if this is a new hold, or if a Democratic senator lied earlier when denying he was responsible for holding up the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), who along with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) had fessed up to an earlier hold, wasn’t immediately available, but a woman in Byrd’s office assured TPMmuckraker he’s not responsible for the current hold.
There are no holds from any Republicans, according to sources from the office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who introduced the bill along with Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). So who is it?
Update: Majority Leader Bill Frist writes on his PAC’s blog:
I can confirm that Senator Stevens has lifted his hold and that no Republican Senator will stand in the way of the up or down vote that this legislation deserves.
My Democrat colleagues have not yet cleared this legislation … but I’m confident that they will do so promptly or pay the consequences of continued obstruction.
Later Update: Whoops! No sooner had Frist posted than he received word that there was again a Republican hold on the bill. Whispers from the Republican side of the aisle is that the culprit is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) again; Stevens’ spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Nevertheless, Frist vows “I will bring this legislation to the floor for a vote in September.”
Latest Update: Spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) confirms that Stevens is the one with the hold and called the move “unexpected.” “We met with his staff last week,” he said, “and provided a detailed cost-benefit analysis of our bill. Senator Stevens then lifted his hold. Only Senator Stevens can explain why he reversed his position and reinstated his hold.”
