The House Rules Committee held an emergency meeting today, whence passed by a vote of 7-2 a closed rule on the PATRIOT Act extension that failed yesterday. The rule waives all points of order and amendments, allows an hour of debate, and will require a simple majority to pass. A vote is expected tomorrow.
Yesterday’s failure to extend the PATRIOT Act came as a result of a number of Republican defections that kept the yeas from reaching the two-thirds majority required to pass the measure under a suspension of the rules.