American Tax Officer-Chapter 773 - 387: Vote Again_2

After some deep consideration, Mandel reluctantly agreed to the request.

By the time they had dealt with these two congressmen, it was already 9 a.m.

Since the voting in Congress was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., there was only half an hour left.

"Call Elvis and Gavin and tell them to ’soothe’ those congressmen again, trying to ensure there will be no slip-ups during the vote."

"Understood, Chief Inspector!"

After receiving David’s instructions, time flew by quickly, and before long, it was 9:20 a.m.

David had arrived at the Internal Revenue Service’s conference room, where Obadiah Welton Hengdonald and other senior figures were already present. As he walked in, everyone cast urgent glances toward him.

"The filibuster shouldn’t stop us today!"

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then stopped asking questions and turned their attention to the large screen, preparing to watch the unfolding events closely.

On Congressional Hill, a throng of media journalists had also arrived at the scene.

"Hello, everyone, this is the Washington Post. After yesterday’s lengthy Congressional debate, no result was reached on the tax evasion legislation. Let’s see if there’s any progress on the bill today!"

...

Well-known media outlets began their pre-vote coverage.

"Damn, this bill has enough votes to pass, but there’s this stupid filibuster procedure in Congress, and it just goes on and on. So annoying!"

"I think this filibuster is unreasonable. Talking for an hour or so is one thing, but having no time limit?"

"There should be a strong call to abolish this filibuster!"

...

Failure to pass the bill yesterday due to the filibuster had already caused great dissatisfaction among its supporters.

As a new round of congressional sessions was about to begin, these supporters started calling for action on various social media platforms.

Meanwhile, on Senado Island...

Henrietta, the core members of The Seven Great Families, and Freemasonry had all arrived and were now engaged in a tripartite video conference.

"How is the situation being handled, Director Edgar?"

Since the kidnapping was orchestrated by the Illuminati-controlled National Security Agency, everyone turned their gaze to Edgar.

"I’ve been very cautious on my end, but we were still noticed by those bastards from the CIA and FBI. Last night, Yuna, Mandel’s relative, was rescued by a tactical squad of the CIA and FBI..."

Although Edgar was reluctant to share this news, he dared not deceive the people from the two powerful organizations and so reported the situation truthfully.

"What! How did you manage this? How could CIA and FBI come to know about something so important, and even rescue the family members of two Senators?"

"Damn it, Edgar, didn’t we tell you to be careful with this matter? How could you handle it so poorly?"

"It’s bad enough that the two departments found out, but they even managed to rescue the hostages. Edgar, you’ve handled this terribly!"

The unexpected and unfavorable news stirred discontent, not just among Freemasonry but also the Ansa Group, watching through the video conference.

Edgar’s mouth twisted bitterly, but he defended himself, "I’ve been very careful with this matter, but I need everyone to recognize something. The CIA is the world’s most powerful intelligence agency, and the FBI’s domestic intelligence system is not to be underestimated. To think that we could perform such a major act under their noses and not be discovered is unrealistic!"

He wasn’t just making excuses for himself.

As he pointed out, the CIA was built on intelligence, and the FBI wasn’t to be trifled with. Moving an average person might be feasible, but what they were attempting to do involved national Senators—and not just one or two. So, being detected by these two major agencies was not solely due to his incompetence.

"Regardless, you are responsible for this incident!"

"That’s right, we barely gritted our teeth to make this decision that could plunge us into the abyss, and we even withstood such great pressure for you, yet you turned it into such a mess, it’s truly disappointing!"

"..."

Members of the Freemasonry and the Ansa Group were still persistently accusing.

But at this moment, Henrietta lifted his withered right hand, and everyone tactfully fell silent.

Then he asked Edgar, "Is there anything else you wish to add?"

"Mr. Henrietta, although the CIA and the FBI found out about this and managed to rescue some people, the situation is not entirely unfavorable for us."

"Based on reports from my subordinates, many senators have developed a hesitance due to this matter."

"Even more, some have contacted me through special channels, asking me to spare their families any harm, stating they are willing to cast their votes for us!"

Edgar, who had been scolded by the two major groups, could remain calm precisely because he had some cards up his sleeve.

And this was his trump card!

Indeed, upon hearing this news, the previously dissatisfied members of the two groups also breathed a sigh of relief.

If this was indeed the case, then the operation could not be considered a failure.

As long as the senators were feeling hesitant, even if they supported the bill internally, whether they could cast a favorable vote was uncertain.

"Since that’s the case, let’s see what the outcome is today!"

...

Amidst the discussions from all parties, the time also reached 9:30 a.m.

Inside the Senate, all senators were in place.

Presiding over the Senate today was still the majority party leader, Grace.

He walked onto the stage, all smiles, and said, "Good morning, everyone, I am Grace. Regarding the bill on tax avoidance in other jurisdictions, I went back and thought about it last night and came up with some new issues. Here, I would like to express my opinions..."

After a night’s rest, this Grace came up with so many issues and began to prattle on incessantly.

Of course, this naturally caused the proponent senators at the scene and the audience watching the live broadcast to hurl abuse.

After enduring half an hour of annoyance,

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Raglen finally couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up abruptly and interrupted, "Grace, all these points were discussed during the House of Representatives committee, I think we should not waste any more time!"

"Senator Raglen, according to the rules of Congress, I have the right to repeatedly point out issues with this bill!"

Grace threw Raglen a look of disdain, as if telling him: I’m just going to keep talking, what can you do about it?

"Is that so? Well, I won’t waste words with you, so I request a vote to bypass the speaking procedures!"

Hearing this, Grace’s eyes narrowed slightly. He was, of course, well aware that Raglen had the right to make this request.

So, although he desperately wanted to refuse internally, he still pretended to be democratic in appearance and replied, "Senator Raglen, you’re right, since you’ve initiated this request, well then, let the voting begin!"

"Yesterday, 58 senators agreed, now we just need two more, are there any colleagues who will cast a favorable vote today?"

Speaking votes and bill votes are different.

When voting on a bill, either in the Senate or the House of Representatives, if the votes aren’t sufficient, the bill will fail, and even if reintroduced, the votes will be recounted.

But speaking votes do not initiate a revote.

In other words, if the vote count was 58 yesterday, then it remains a fixed number, and today we just need two more senators to cast favorable votes for it to take effect!