WASHINGTON AP – In a day of political brinkmanship, President Bush pressured the House on Thursday to finish a bill giving the government more leeway to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists. House Democrats didn’t budge, prompting their Republican colleagues to stage a walkout down the Capitol steps.
From the White House, Bush argued that the House has plenty of time to pass a bill before the current Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires at midnight Saturday. The president plans to leave on a five-nation trip to Africa on Friday afternoon, but said he’d delay his departure and stay in Washington “if it will help them complete their work on this critical bill.”
