Just a short time ago we brought you word that the state senate Democrats in Wisconsin were worried that the Republicans could manage an end-run and push the union-busting bill through without their being present. The approach would be to take that stuff out of the budget bill, which requires a larger quorum of senators present, and put it into regular legislation they could pass with the Dems still out of state. But now the Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is saying he won’t take the legislation up until the Democrats come back.

The backstory seems to be that there’s a moderate faction among the Republican senators. And they are apparently refusing to go ahead with that approach. We don’t know that latter point for certain yet. But it seems to be the most logical inference to draw from Fitzgerald’s statement. And his clear ruling out of such an option seems to leave the standoff in place, with no clear option for Walker absent some agreement with the Democrats.