Republican Filibuster Blocks Cybersecurity Bill

image
Published: 02 Aug, 2012
Updated: 13 Oct, 2022
1 min read

A Senate cybersecurity bill failed to pass today as the result of a Republican filibuster, falling just eight votes shy of the 60 needed to advance to a final vote.

As IVN has reported, the cybersecurity bill is a major priority for the Obama administration, prompting a recent Wall Street Journal editorial by the President himself.

"Despite the President’s repeated calls for Congress to act on this legislation, and despite pleas from numerous senior national security officials from this Administration and the Bush Administration, the politics of obstructionism, driven by special interest groups seeking to avoid accountability, prevented Congress from passing legislation to better protect our nation from potentially catastrophic cyber-attacks," the White House said in a statement, reacting to the blocked legislation.

The New York Times reports the current iteration of the bill has been "significantly watered down" in an attempt to win the support of Senate Republicans, including one of the bills staunchest opponents, Sen. John McCain.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-MI) were the architects of the legislation. The Independent Sen. Lieberman is Chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, with Sen. Collins also a ranking member.

The Senate's only other Independent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is also a big supporter of the bill.

"Our nation's national security and economy face unprecedented threats from cyber-attacks, and it is important that we defend ourselves as best we can while, at the same time, protecting the privacy and civil liberties of the American people," Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement. "I worked hard with a number of colleagues to make sure that language in the bill would protect the constitutional rights of the American people,"

Latest articles

Oklahoma State Capitol Building.
Lawsuit Slams Oklahoma Law as ‘Unconstitutional Sabotage’ of Open Primaries
<p>Two Oklahoma veterans – one a pediatrician, the other a U.S. Coast Guard commander – have filed a legal challenge to SB 1027 in Oklahoma, a law they say unconstitutionally targets their statewide citizen initiative to implement open primaries, State Question 836 (SQ 836).</p> ...
08 Jul, 2025
-
5 min read
Elon Musk
Musk vs The Duopoly: Will the America Party Succeed Where Others Have Failed?
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, and former Director of the Department of Government Efficiency, has officially launched the America Party, framing it as a challenge to what he calls a “one-party system” dominated by wasteful government spending....
07 Jul, 2025
-
5 min read
CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read