Politico is reporting that House Democrats have finally returned to the negotiating table to work on a FISA compromise after authorization was allowed to expire in early February.

In February, the confrontation boiled over when the temporary Protect America Act expired, prompting the White House to accuse the Democrats of playing politics with a national security issue and threatening the country’s security. Democrats countered that existing FISA laws still allowed the intelligence community to monitor terrorists’ conversations and said they would not be bullied by President Bush.

As work on the bill stretches into the spring, the immunity issue remains the primary sticking point. More than two-thirds of the Senate voted for a bill that included immunity, while the House passed a FISA update without it, leading to the current stalemate.

Hoyer aides would not give a specific timeline for drafting a bill. However, they indicated the majority leader is working hard to get a proposal completed before Memorial Day.

“We are working to move this process forward, and this discussion is a first step,” said the aide.

This is not the first time, however, that all the principals have been in the same room together. Talks between the administration and Congress in February failed to yield a breakthrough.

For more than two months now, our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been without a vital capability to protect America from another terrorist attack.  The sticking point?  Granting immunity to American companies from lawsuits when they cooperate with the government in order to keep us safe.  Democratic House Leadership should finally stop blocking this re-authorization and pass similar legislation that cleared the Senate by more than 2/3 vote last winter.