Before I met with Senator Bill Frist earlier today, I took a few minutes to call the offices of the few remaining Senators who had not gone on the record regarding the hold on S. 2590. TPM Muckraker has been keeping track of the score, and now Hot Air reports that we're down to the Final Three.

When I checked the list at TPMM, I noted three Republicans whose lack of response puzzled me -- well, two of them, anyway. Jon Kyl has been a consistent voice for fiscal responsibility, so I took out the cell phone and called his offices in DC. The friendly staffer who answered told me unequivocally that Kyl did not place the hold on S2590, and in fact supported the bill. I asked twice just to be sure he knew this for a fact, and received strong assurances both times.

Next I called Pete Domenici's office, and got a slightly different reaction. The polite but somewhat confused staffer had to check with others in the office -- apparently, mine was the first call she had taken on the subject. Her colleagues told her that Domenici didn't hold the bill, but none of them were willing to state that he supported it.

I sent these reactions to TPMM and set my sights on the white whale: Ted Stevens.

When I called Stevens' office, the staffer who answered was quite friendly -- almost overly so. His reaction to my question was ... not to answer it. "We've gotten that question a lot this week," he said, and then tried to get me to submit the question via their Senate website. Instead, I asked for a press liaison, and he transferred me to the voice mail of Aaron Saunders -- whose outbound message stated that he would be out of town until Friday. However, he left his e-mail on the message with the recommendation that it was the best way to contact him, so I sent him an e-mail asking him to confirm or deny that Stevens had placed the hold on S. 2590. Almost as an afterthought, I marked it for a return receipt.

Aaron Saunders read my e-mail at 11:56 am ET today. So far, he has not responded ... which might be an answer in and of itself. I'll keep you posted.

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