Congressional Democrats are getting off easy. With attention focused on the presidential campaign, there’s been little coverage of their handling of FISA, which has been characterized by short-term extensions to the bill and behind the scenes efforts to gut the program. The central point of the debate in Congress is whether to provide retroactive immunity to telecom companies that cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies on surveillance. Carter Wood points to a good explanation from the Senate Intelligence Committee of why it decided to do so–the amendment passed by an overwhelming margin earlier today. With the Senate now ready to pass a FISA reauthorization that lasts six years, and which is otherwise acceptable to the president, the next question is what the House of Representatives will do. Roll Call reports: