The simmering conflict between the feds and states over new federal identification rules took an odd turn this week, with the feds seemingly now willing to accept all but outright rebels as part of their secure driver's license alliance.

Montana governor Brian Schweitzer won a Real ID waiver without ever saying Montana would comply.

Photo: Montana Governor's OfficeFirst, California wrote the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday to say it hasn't yet decided if they will comply with new federal identification rules, despite the fact they applied for and got an extension on complying until 2010.

DHS has said for months that states had to agree to comply in the future to get that extension. If they don't get the extension, that state's citizens could not get into federal buildings or escape pat-downs at the airport, unless they had a passport.

But within minutes of THREAT LEVEL showing a copy of the California letter to DHS, the government said California's ambivalence was just fine.

Then Friday, DHS handed out a waiver to Montana, which didn't ask for one.

In January, Montana's outspoken Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer called such extensions a "Faustian bargain" in a letter to other governors that urged collective rebellion.

Montana, along with civil liberties and small government groups, consider Real ID to be a de facto national identity card.

Other states are balking at the price tag, which originally started at some $20 billion, but after some changes to the rules, the government expects the change to only cost some $4 billion.

But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says he wants Real ID to be on track by the time he leaves his post, saying better identification cards will help prevent terrorism.

At issue are long-delayed rules that require states to collect, verify and store birth and marriage certificates for nearly all citizens who have state-issued licenses or identification cards.

That means almost every driver's license holder will have to get certified documents and go into the DMV to get a new license – and many will likely have to go in more than once.

The rules also require the nation's DMVs to interconnect their systems to prevent duplicate licenses, which privacy groups consider to be the equivalent of a national ID card. In the years after 2010, the federal government will begin rejecting non-Real ID driver's licenses as valid for federal purposes, which could include buying over-counter cold medicine and getting into Social Security Administration buildings.

DHS granted the extension Friday after Montana's Attorney General Mike McGrath sent a letter (.pdf) by fax outlining the security measures Montana has taken in regards to identification and asking not to be penalized come May 11. But McGrath noted that Montana's legislature voted unanimously to reject Real ID and would not be convening again until next January.

DHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker wrote back that those measures sounded close enough to Real ID, but that the only way not to get punished is to ask for a waiver. So Montana gets a waiver (.pdf), Baker decided.

That's an odd bit of generosity towards a state whose governor has been trying to foment a wide rebellion against Real ID, which he considers an infringement on states and citizens' rights. In a letter to other governors, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer called the extension a "Faustian bargain." He's also said sometimes it is best to tell the federal government to "go to hell."

That leaves South Carolina and Maine as the only states that haven't asked for an extension. The other states may actually be preparing to comply or just playing along in the hopes that Congress reverses the mandate.

New Hampshire asked for an extension in February, but DHS seemed to not like the tone of the letter, which, like Montana's letter, noted that the state legislature prohibited joining in the Real ID program.

Friday's letter suggests that New Hampshire could simply write a more polite letter talking about plans to increase driver's license integrity by including, say, three-dimensional holograms, and DHS would accept it.

That leaves South Carolina and Maine, neither of which have decided whether to ask for an extension.

They have until March 31 to do so, but today's news suggests that they might be able to save the stamp – DHS might have already put one in the mail.

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