McCain told The Hill that while he opposes torture in general and waterboarding in particular, he does not agree with a uniform set of policies that applies equally to spy agencies. He noted that the 2005 law he wrote with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on detainee policy distinctly separated the CIA and the military in terms of interrogation rules.
“The CIA ought to have additional techniques,” McCain said.
Publicly, Republicans say presidential politics had nothing to do with their strategy and that Bush had already planned to veto the bill. But a veto might have been avoided had Republicans used parliamentary maneuvers to force Democrats to drop the language on torture.
Republicans complain that Democrats are mischaracterizing the provision, which would apply the Army’s Field Manual not just to the military but to all government agencies, including the CIA. The government says it no longer waterboards prisoners even though it carried out the practice on several detainees after Sept. 11, 2001.
Enacting the provision would be bad policy, Republicans say, because it could hamstring federal agents, allow terrorists to learn about secret interrogation methods — the field manual is published — and improperly set a one-size-fits-all policy for an array of agencies.
“There isn’t anybody that you can say is a stronger objector to torture or has expressed himself more strongly than Sen. McCain,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the minority whip. “His vote against the bill makes a strong statement that this isn’t about torture, but about applying a set of standards that the Army uses to other agencies where it’s totally not applicable.”
Republicans had more than enough votes Wednesday to force Democrats to drop the provision if they had wanted to do so. It takes 60 votes to pass controversial legislation.
Republicans also had several options to kill the bill. Under new rules, they could have raised a point of order to strike the Feinstein provision because it was added in conference but not originally included in either the House or Senate bill. Sixty votes would be needed to override the point of order.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats were surprised that Republicans decided against such a move.
“We expected it for several days,” Durbin said. “From the outside, there may have been some presidential calculations.”
Republicans also could have threatened to filibuster the bill, a regular move employed by the minority, to stall the measure until Democrats dropped the provision.
Even though Republican leaders insisted Thursday that the veto strategy was not calculated to limit fallout, vulnerable GOP senators recognized the political risk they faced by a vote to kill the anti-torture language.
“There’s a political skewering going on here,” said Sen. Norm Coleman, the Minnesota Republican who faces a tough reelection race in November. “But in the end, when John McCain says he’s against waterboarding but this vote isn’t about that, I’m certainly comfortable with that.”
Coleman voted against the bill, as did vulnerable Republican Sen. John Sununu (N.H.). Two other endangered Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine and Gordon Smith of Oregon — supported the bill’s passage.
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