After that, and perhaps a bill to overhaul the banking system, few of the measures enacted into law were as significant as a series of bills that commanded majority support in both houses but nonetheless died because of filibusters or opposition from Republican leaders.
But no, the Republicans threatened a filibuster because Senator Robert Bennett of Utah was ticked off at the Department of the Interior for canceling the sale of oil and gas leases on public lands in his state.
He said he would have preferred a raising of the debt ceiling into next year, but "because of the filibuster, he needed Schumer's buy-in".
Meanwhile, Senator Doyle announces that he's withdrawing his support for Meyer's plans for filibuster reform because of his anger at two representatives of the oil industry being put on the VP's clean jobs commission by Meyer.
Dodd needs an agreement with Republicans because Democrats control only 59 votes in the Senate, short of the 60 needed to avert a potential filibuster, and because of pressure from the conservative wing of his own party.
The 59-40 vote was by the slimmest of margins (60 are needed to break a filibuster), crumbling because of opposition to a $21.8 billion tax package extending breaks for investment in clean and efficient energy by raising taxes on Big Oil.
Democrats could try to force the issue with votes to break the filibuster, but because of complicated Senate rules, that would likely require a new round of voting as extensive as that required to pass the budget in the first place.
"I can't call it a filibuster because filibusters delay passage of legislation," McCain said.
"I expect the people of the Senate not to hold him up, not to try to talk his nomination into the ground," Mr. Bush said, referring to the threat of a Democratic filibuster, "because Miguel Estrada not only represents the American dream, but will do us proud on the bench".
