Secret Holder Being Sniffed Out

Suspects remaining:  1 (See the new post for details)

The identity of the one or more Senators who placed a "secret hold" on S2590 (the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act), a pork transparency bill sponsored by Senators Obama and Coburn which would create an online, searchable pork database, is/are slowly being revealed in an exciting blog-driven game of musical chairs.

Leading the way in championing individual constituents' efforts to get their Senators to deny on record being the secret holder, and documenting the successful efforts are Porkbusters and TPM Muckraker.

While the quality of the inbound information can't always be guaranteed, it appears the vast majority of Senators have gone on record that they are not the secret holder.

The remaining list of suspects (Senators who have not yet responded or who have responded that they will neither confirm nor deny) is presented below and will be updated as additional Senators step forward:

• Ted Stevens (R-AK)
• Mike Crapo (R-ID)*
• Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Percentage of party delegations responding:

• R:  95%
• D: 100%
• I:  100%

My guess:  Harry Reid.

* One remaining Senator is asterisk-worthy, namely Mike Crapo, whose office actually has responded, per TPMM, stating it's not the Senator's practice to confirm or deny such a hold.

And so, with 2 chairs left and 3 Senators standing, help stop the music by getting on the horn if you're from Alaska, Idaho, or New Hampshire.

I've put in inquiries to the three remaining Senators' offices, but have yet to receive a response.  On his own blog, Majority Leader Bill Frist has called on Senators to respond to such requests from bloggers.

So, to get this bill passed, I am calling on all members, when asked by the blog community, to instruct their staff to answer whether or not they have a hold, honestly and transparently, so I can pass this bill. And I encourage Minority Leader Reid to do the same.

Speculating elsewhere:  AP at Hot Air.  MKH at Townhall.  Erick at Redstate.

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Update:  Now that we're down to three, it's probably time to get a little more substantively speculative about the susp-, eh, let's call them prospects.

The Case for Stevens

In a word:  Strong like boar.

Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate and the former Chairman of the Appropriations Committee was inducted to the Porkmaster Hall of Fame courtesy of the Gravina Island Bridge ("To Nowhere") debacle, a $223 million pork project that would've served an island with 50 inhabitants.  Stevens threatened to resign from the Senate if his pork was diverted to Katrina sufferers.  Senator Stevens' porcine bona fides are beyond reproach.

Not only did Mary Katherine pick Stevens early on as the likely secret holder, but the Senator was crowned the Porkbusters Grand Prize Winner.

The Case for Gregg

In a word:  New kid in the barrel.

Gindu points out recent press releases on Judd Gregg's website, extolling his own abilities to bring home bridge-bound bacon.  In just 5 days, 13 projects were announced, clocking in at an average of a million dollars apiece.  The fact that Gregg wears his summer pork on his shoulder may mitigate the likelihood that he's prone to spending secrecy, but as Gindu puts it, the man does like his pet projects.

The Case for Crapo

In a word:  Dark pig in the race

Mike Crapo may not have any bridges that need (or don't need) building in Idaho, but he does win the prize for the most recently announced 7-figure earmark.  Yesterday.  Earlier today, Crapo's media contact, Susan Wheeler, told TPMM, "It's not Sen. Crapo's practice to confirm or deny any hold on any bill."  Given that stance, whether or not Senator Crapo is the secret holder, I'd watch for him to make it to the final two.  To my knowledge, he is the only remaining prospect to have explicitly declined to answer the question.

My Updated Speculations (in decreasing order of likelihood)

1)  Stevens is the secret holder.  Enough pressure will be brought to bear with only three remaining that Gregg will shortly remove himself from contention.  Crapo will stand by his policy long enough that Stevens, assured his anonymity is on borrowed time, will release a statement acknowledging his identity as the secret holder, rather than risk the incremental indignity of being outed after a process of 99 eliminations.

2)  We eventually wind up with 100/100 eliminations, meaning one of the second-hand e-mailed accounts of (typically unnamed) staffers in various Senators' offices that surfaced throughout the day turned out to be incorrect.

3)  The Porcine Trifecta - all three remaining prospects have holds on S2590.  While I rank this possibility third, every hour that passes with the prospect count stuck at three (having raced down so quickly until this point) tends to buoy this option's likelihood in my estimation.

Update:  According to Kate O'Beirne, Senators Frist, Obama, and Coburn are likely aware of the identity of the secret holder (Hat Tip: The Political Pit Bull).  PPB also points out this interview Captain Ed conducted with Dr. Frist, who appears determined to bring the bill to the floor.

Meanwhile, amidst all the excitement of the hunt for the holder, Tim Chapman makes a cogent case in defense of secret holds.