Senate resumes deliberations, er, session
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After a late night, the Senate went back into session this morning with comity a casualty of the tense battle to secure 60 votes needed to pass healthcare reform.
Over the next days, the Senate is expected to meet through long and irregular hours to pass the healthcare overhaul bill, caught between a rock and a hard place: Unwavering Republican opposition and the continuing machinations to win 60 votes for passage with at least one Democrat holding out for tough language on abortion funding.
The fight, now well into its third week, has taken a toll, especially in the vaunted collegiality that marked one of the world’s most exclusive clubs: the United States Senate.
This morning, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 two Democrat, asked Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana how much time he would need to discuss a pending appropriation bill.
“I see the senator from Indiana is on the floor, and if he would give me an indication of the time he will use to speak, I would appreciate it,” Durbin said.
“In response to the distinguished senator, I would like to speak for 10 minutes, and perhaps 12,” Lugar said and chuckled.
Lugar’s humor was a sly reference to Thursday’s kerfuffle when Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who was presiding, rejected a usual courtesy and refused to give extra time to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). It was Lieberman who effectively killed the public option in the healthcare bill, and Franken is a vocal supporter of a robust public option.
But the unhappiness goes deeper, as senators prepare to work through another weekend and up to Christmas. The soonest the final vote on healthcare can be expected is sometime Thursday. A key test vote is planned about 1 a.m. EST Monday.
“We want to go home. I want to go home,” Durbin said. “I called my wife this morning. I’ve been here now for three straight weeks and looks like there is another week to follow.
“I don’t like this. You know you give up a lot in this job.
“There are pieces of my family life that I hold dear, and this is one of them, to be with my family back home for Christmas -- not just the last minute but to be there, and it doesn’t look like we will be able to, because Republicans have decided they will use every political and parliamentary device possible to delay this vote.”
Durbin explained that for parliamentary reasons, the next vote will be at 7 a.m. Sunday -- on the defense bill, which will overwhelmingly pass the Senate, as it did the House, because it contains needed funding for troops at war as well as Department of Defense appropriations and unemployment benefits.
On Sunday morning, the legislative clock will start again on healthcare with several votes throughout the next days.
Durbin asked why all of this is needed. “Let’s be honest -- we ought to bring this matter up for a vote and see if we do have 60 votes on this side of the aisle. I hope we do. We’re working on it.”
-- Michael Muskal
