By Tim Starks, CQ Staff

Over the congressional recess, the loud fight over a rewrite of electronic surveillance rules has become quieter as Republicans have changed their public relations tactics.

During the break, the GOP has not issued the daily barrage of news releases that characterized the weeks before the recess, when House Democrats defied the White House and passed a new bill (HR 3773) that would not grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies being sued for their alleged role in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.

Instead, Republicans have focused on reaching out to publications beyond the Beltway.

“Republicans have dedicated significant time and resources in engaging regional and local media, editorial boards, and talk radio over the break,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio. “We’re going to hold every Democrat accountable for their irresponsible actions on this bill, and we will ramp up the pressure until they do the right thing and pass the bipartisan Senate bill. In the end, we believe they will cave.”

Senate Democrats, though, don’t plan to return immediately to the debate, and may not act for several weeks on a lasting overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (PL 95-511).

Republicans prefer a Senate-passed bill that would grant retroactive immunity. The House bill attempts to address the telecommunication companies’ concerns by granting them a legal avenue to introduce classified evidence that they believe could help their defense but that the Bush administration has sought to block from court disclosure.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said Republican partisanship is holding up final FISA legislation.

“Senator Reid supports the House approach. But since Republicans have refused to participate in the negotiations that led to this bill, it seems unlikely to achieve 60 votes in the Senate,” said the spokesman, Jim Manley. “Senator Reid will continue to call for bipartisan talks to resolve the differences between the House and the Senate on this issue. Republicans should stop playing games on this important issue.”

A Senate Democratic aide said that Democrats continue to talk among themselves, but the Senate is probably weeks away from taking any action. Before the break, Senate Democratic leaders said the Senate would bring the House bill to the floor at some unspecified time, although it is expected to be altered.