Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT-01) was earlier on the floor offering what he hoped was a privileged resolution calling for the establishment of a select subcommittee within the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate Speaker Pelosi's contention that she was misled by intelligence briefers with regard to detainee interrogation methods, a.k.a. torture.

The resolution itself was held not to constitute a question of the privileges of the House, which would have granted it privilege for expedited consideration.

The text of the ruling was as follows:

The resolution proposes to direct the Select Subcommittee on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to review and verify the accuracy of certain public statements of the Speaker concerning communications to the Congress from an element of the executive branch. Such a review necessarily would include an evaluation not only of the statements of the Speaker, but also of the executive communications to which those statements related. Thus, the review necessarily would involve an evaluation of the oversight regime that formed the context of those communications as well. In reviewing and verifying the accuracy of the aforementioned public statements, the Select Subcommittee would be assessing not only the probity of the speaker's actions but also the probity of the actions of the executive branch officials.

On these premises, the Chair finds that the instant resolution is not materially different from House Resolution 470, which was held on May 21, 2009 not to present a question of privilege. The Chair therefore holds that the resolution is not privileged under Rule IX. instead, as was the case with house resolution 470, the instant resolution may be submitted through the hopper.

In other words, because the investigation proposed by the resolution would necessarily go beyond a look at what the Speaker did, but also to the actions of the executive branch, it was held not to be strictly a question of the privileges of the House itself. That means the resolution can be introduced in the normal fashion, by dropping it in the hopper, but isn't entitled to an expedited debate and vote on the House floor.

Rep. Bishop, of course, appealed the ruling of the chair, but Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL-23) moved to table the appeal.

That motion was adopted by a vote of 247-171, with two Republicans voting with the Democrats to table.

Note, though, that Rep. Bishop's resolution offered today was similar to H. Res. 470, offered a few weeks ago. I expect that the Republicans' incremental success (if it is that) with Rep. Jeff Flake's (R-A-06) resolutions regarding the PMA lobbying scandal will be the model for Bishop's efforts, and we'll see this one again and again.

Don't you sort of wish Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10) or someone else had been willing to do this about torture? Or illegal wiretapping? Or impeachment?

Would have been fun, anyway.