A key Democratic senator is actively continuing to try to defeat provisions in a defense bill which would allow for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens captured by the military, including those taken on U.S. soil.

As a member of the conference committee tasked with hammering out differences between the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado continues to press an influential proponent of the detentions policy to try to reach some compromise.

At issue is legislation buried within the NDAA which would allow the U.S. military to capture and imprison civilians — without any charge or trial — including American citizens, anywhere in the world, including on U.S. soil. An annual bill, the overall NDAA authorizes by law the government’s defense and national security activities.

Udall tried unsuccessfully last week to have the indefinite detentions language stripped from the overall bill. President Obama has threatened a rare veto of the NDAA over the detentions provisions.

Udall on Friday sent Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) a letter urging Levin to change course. The powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin is a key backer of the detentions provisions.

“Although I have no doubt that the provisions were drafted with the best of intentions, I remain deeply concerned about the potential for unintended consequences that could impede our ability to track, investigate, capture, and exploit terrorism suspects,” Udall wrote to Levin. “Therefore, I respectfully ask that you seek to address the following points during the conference negotiations and modify the language of the provisions as needed to protect national security and the constitutional liberties of American citizens.”

Udall says in his letter that he submitted to Levin alternate language which “may help to resolve some of the concerns and ambiguity associated” with the current indefinite detentions provisions.

The secretary of defense, director of national intelligence, and the directors of the FBI and CIA all have expressed concern that the provisions — intended to clarify our policy on detaining accused terrorists — would actually disrupt ongoing law enforcement investigations of terrorists and hinder cooperation between law enforcement and the military. National security and civil liberties experts have also raised serious concerns that the provisions would permit the military to detain American citizens without trial as a serious erosion of the Constitution.

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

The Senate rejection of a ban on unlimited detention of U.S. citizens has brought a rare veto by President Obama much closer to reality.

Senators voted down an amendment by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) on Wednesday which would have removed provisions of the pending overall defense authorization bill which allow the U.S. military to capture and imprison civilians — without any charge or trial — including American citizens, anywhere in the world, including on U.S. soil.

The issue of infinite detention now goes to lawmakers who must hammer out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). An annual bill, the overall NDAA authorizes by law the government’s defense and national security activities.

Assuming the provisions which allow infinite detention survive that legislative conference, it will be up to Obama to decide whether to follow through on his threat to veto the final bill over the detainee issues.

The provisions related to infinite detention were written without consulting the Department of Defense or law enforcement, and they could amount to an unprecedented expansion of military power inside the United States, according to Udall and other opponents of the policy.

The issue of detentions has split the traditional unity of Senate Democrats, and resulted in a 60-38 vote to defeat the Udall amendment. Obama has vetoed legislation just twice before so far in his term, and those were much less prominent bills. The current matter, however, would put the president in the politically awkward position of vetoing a major defense bill which had the support of such powerful Democratic allies as Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The margin against the Udall amendment would indicate that Obama and lawmakers opposed to infinite detention would have the votes to sustain a veto.

But despite the defeat of his original amendment, Udall holds out hope that he and other detention opponents could further shape the defense bill in their favor through other potential amendments.

“I’m disappointed that the Senate today ignored the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the FBI and numerous defense experts and retired military officials and did not pass my amendment,” Udall says. “I’ve opposed these detention provisions from the beginning and voted against them twice because of the potential harm they would do to national security. We still have well over 100 amendments to consider between now and when we finish debate on the overall legislation, and I will be working with my colleagues to craft detention provisions that will prevent a veto of this critically important defense authorization bill.”

YOU CAN WATCH VIDEO OF SEN. UDALL SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE INFINITE DETENTION POLICY HERE:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade