It will be high noon at the "not OK" corral Thursday -- sort of -- with the Senate scheduled to vote on a motion to proceed to a vote on S.J. Res 6, the resolution to invalidate the FCC's network neutrality rules.
It is unclear whether the Democrats will support the motion to proceed, but they may -- a Hill source said it could be a close vote. If the motion to proceed did pass, and the resolution were defeated later in a floor vote, the resolution is essentially dead. If the initial motion to bring it to the floor is voted down, as Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) has suggested should be the case, the Republicans can reintroduce it. A source close to one of the Republicans backing the measure said they would not rule out trying again. If so, they would need to do move quickly since the FCC's rules go into effect Nov. 20.
But if and when the actual resolution to nullify the rules got voted on, it would almost surely fail since the Democratic majority in the Senate has not backed the resolution and many Democrats stood up to oppose it vigorously Wednesday. The White House has also threatened to veto it -- the president has been a big supporter of network neutrality and the new rules.
Either way, the issue will not be settled, at least technically, this week, given that Republicans could reintroduce it if the motion to proceed failed and that, according to the Senate calendar, if it succeeds a vote on the resolution itself won't come until Nov. 15.
