Talk of Resurrecting Immigration Bill Begins as Autopsy Goes On

Not until midday Thursday did it dawn on both sides that Reid was serious about finishing quickly. Across the Capitol, leaders of the House's Congressional Hispanic Caucus were wrapping up their presentation on immigration reform when an aide broke in with the news that the Senate leader would seek a second vote to end debate.

Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), the caucus chairman, and Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (Ill.), the chief Democratic author of a major House immigration bill, dashed over to the Senate. But Reid did not see them until 6:30 p.m. Gutierrez implored him not to pull the bill from the Senate floor. To the millions of illegal immigrants in this country, it was "a matter of life and death," he said.

But Reid made it clear his mind was made. "His demeanor was, how should I say, decided on," Gutierrez said reluctantly. "That's all I'm going to say about it."

GOP Worries

Republicans were no less panicked. For several hours Thursday afternoon, McConnell huddled in his office with Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the bill's lead Republican backer, along with more than half a dozen hard-line opponents. The idea was to allow the conservatives to vent and determine whether the GOP leadership could reach an accommodation. But it quickly became clear that there would be no deal.

Although the Senate had already accepted his amendment to make English the national language, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) demanded another vote on a tougher version. Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) wanted votes on about 10 amendments each, even though McConnell had told Reid that Republicans would accept a total of 13 additional amendments.

DeMint then went to the Senate floor to refuse every offer Reid would make on further amendments. Republican aides believed that the Reid strategy was clear: Democrats would cycle through GOP amendments all day long, then move to cut off debate, hoping to paint Republicans as intransigent if they said no. DeMint decided to head off the effort by refusing to let any amendments come up to a vote.

The move infuriated some senior Republicans, including Minority Whip Trent Lott (Miss.), who was urging the GOP leadership to take a harder line with the conservatives. But McConnell was reluctant to push too hard.

Then word spread that Reid planned a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez Monday. No longer were Republicans willing to accept Reid's assertion that the Senate could not spare one more day of debate. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff rushed to the Capitol, arriving at 7:15 p.m. to meet with senators in Vice President Cheney's office just off the Senate chamber. But the administration's efforts were fruitless: The second vote was a fait accompli.

Chertoff rejected the suggestions that the administration had not hustled. "They are going to have to fumigate the room because we were basically living there. Anyone who says we weren't engaged is ignorant of the facts." Bush will speak to Senate Republicans on Tuesday about immigration in a previously scheduled lunch.