One of Mr. McCain's proposals -- to require companies to include options as an expense on their income statements -- was debated in the Senate today but was effectively killed by a procedural maneuver by the Democratic leadership, which is pushing toward final passage of an accounting bill.
Johnson's stunt lasted a little more than two hours, eventually stopped by a procedural move by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Rather, it merely dismissed a procedural challenge by government lawyers to a ruling in February by a federal judge in Texas, which has halted the president's immigration agenda like a cartoon spanner thrown into giant cogwheels.
Senators cleared a procedural hurdle by a vote of 25-13.
But corn association officials attributed the problem to a procedural mistake by officials.
In 2007, seven months into their new minority status, Republicans accused Democrats of stealing a procedural vote by banging the gavel shut before all votes were cast.
But they rejected on a 240-to-173 vote a procedural effort by Representative Jim Matheson, Democrat of Utah, to hold a separate vote on the issue.
A disaster aid package cleared a procedural hurdle by a 90-10 vote and is expected to pass the Senate as early as late this week, which would set up talks with the Democratic-controlled House.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court ordered that all trial proceedings since April 19 be disregarded because a procedural decision by a judge on the trial court sent the case into disarray.
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said the Senate would take a procedural vote by the end of the week so it could move quickly to final confirmation by the weekend or early next week.
