As a few members of the Senate continue to play games with S.2590, the Coburn/Obama bill creating an online searchable database for federal spending, the enthusiasm for smoking them out has declined considerably. The Hill reports that watchdogs such as Porkbusters and OMB Watch have begun counseling their supporters to put less energy into detective work to unmask the secret holders and to put more pressure on the leadership of both Senate caucuses to bring the bill to the floor:

Bloggers on both sides of Washington’s partisan chasm called for a halt to Senate blocks on the bill, which would set up a public database of all federal grants and contracts, including those resulting from earmarks. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and an unnamed Democrat were said to have active holds as of midday, but congressional sources said Stevens removed his late yesterday.

At this point, supporters’ playing Sherlock Holmes produces less benefit and may play into a strategy of tactical delays. In the end, it really doesn’t matter whose hold remains on the bill if a handful of senators intend to deny unanimous consent to a floor vote. One hold or a dozen will still force the bill to survive up to three cloture motions over six legislative days before proceeding to an up-or-down vote.

Under normal circumstances, this would present little difficulty. However, the Senate is running out of legislative days before the upcoming election; according to Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Senate has only 15 days before it goes home for the election. Squeezing the database bill into an already-packed legislative agenda and keeping up with the cloture motions will require some effort. That doesn’t take into account the time needed to reconcile S.2590 with its House cousin.

For this reason, activists would be better served by channeling their energies into demanding immediate action on the bill now despite the holds. Frist has already gone on record saying that he will take all action necessary to get S.2590 passed before the election. The Hill notes that Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has offered public support for the bill, has not made any similar commitment to pushing against procedural obstacles. To see if Reid is indeed serious about increasing the transparency of federal spending, activists might ask him for a signal against the three-card monty of holds in which senators from both caucuses have engaged.