Shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, 11 Republican members of the House joined with Democrats on an amendment to strip the cost of the mailing -- an estimated $30.5 million -- from the IRS budget, and in doing so formed a 218-vote majority. But before the vote was officially gaveled close, Republican House leaders made time stand still -- with the official House floor clock frozen at 0:00 -- while they successfully lobbied six Republicans to change their vote. As House Democrats shouted "Shame!" the vote was finally gaveled down as a defeat for the amendment, 212-216.

One Republican who wouldn't change his vote was Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra. "Sure, the leadership asked me to reconsider my vote. But the idea that we need to send out a letter saying the check is in the mail is the dumbest idea I've heard in a long time," Hoekstra said. "When they saw that this amendment was going to pass or come close to passing, the leadership should have realized that this was a good amendment and gotten the entire caucus to rally behind it. I remember when we used to think $30 million was a lot of money."

The controversial IRS letter credits President Bush by name for the forthcoming rebate check, saying that "the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law" the tax bill, "which provides long-term tax relief for all Americans who pay income taxes ... for years to come." Written in consultation with the White House and the Treasury Department, the letter will be sent to 91 million Americans in July, with the stated claim of helping clear up confusion about the $300-per-person, $600-per-couple tax rebate.

In a Tuesday press conference, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer defended the mailing. "The IRS is sending out the notice as part of their routine communications, properly so," he said. "It's a good way to manage the reaction that the public would give if 100 million unexplained checks simply arrived." Fleischer said the letter was part of the IRS's "much more customer-oriented" approach. "It's part of good government for the agencies to keep in touch with people."

Democrats, however, have denounced the unprecedented mailing as nakedly political. "This letter looks more like it was written for a candidate in a campaign than for a government agency," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said to reporters. Schumer later told CBS, "This letter sounds more like it came from Ed McMahon than President Bush." On Tuesday, Schumer wrote to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who oversees the IRS, and asked him to stop the letter, saying it "could harm the reputation of the IRS."

Salon News A Salon-eye view of the day's news, with investigative reports, analysis and interviews with newsmakers.