Not so Fast on that Select Cybersecurity Panel

The ink was barely dry on Sen. John McCain's letter to Senate leaders requesting creation of a select committee on cybersecurity and electronic intelligence leaks before Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins jointly issued a letter Wednesday rejecting the move.

McCain said a select committee is needed to craft and pass comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, but Lieberman and Collins, the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, countered that they have been trying to do just that for more than two years. Creating a new committee would only set those efforts back, they said.

"A Select Committee will necessarily require a restart of efforts that have been underway for years and would wash away the significant progress that the Senate has made," the senators wrote.

Whether McCain's request gains traction or not, the immediate rejection by Collins and Lieberman, McCain's longtime friend and ally, suggests a new committee won't solve the Senate's gridlock problem.