In the continued push towards comprehensive immigration reform, the Senate has voted to invoke cloture on the Leahy Amendment, aka the Hoeven-Corker amendment, aka the so-called "
border surge" that vastly increases funding for border security. The final vote tally won't be known for some time, as the Senate is holding the vote open for out-of-town senators to arrive (no, not kidding on that one) but has already passed the needed 60-vote margin. This sets up a vote later this week on the amendment itself, and a final vote on the overall immigration bill by the end of this week.
This amendment is expected to improve prospects for the overall bill; Senate advocates have been pushing towards a 70-vote threshold on the bill in an effort to pressure the Republican-led House into taking action in the issue themselves. Whether the promised "surge" will placate House Republicans remains to be seen; so far, they have been slow-walking their own immigration reform plans, trying to find a balancing point between worried election-minded Republicans and the more cantankerous base.
3:58 PM PT: Final tally is 67 for cloture, 27 against.