With healthcare battle about over, GOP senators consider holiday exit
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With today’s healthcare vote in the Senate, it is clear that Democrats can hold their caucus together, so Republicans are forced to decide what is gained by making sure the final vote comes on Christmas Eve.
Not so much, it may turn out.
“We are working on an agreement that will give certainty to the way to end this session, and hopefully [Senate leaders] can be recommending something that makes sense for both sides in the not-too-distant future,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said today.
Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada invoked the holidays.
“I would hope everybody will keep in mind that this is a time when we reflect on peace and good things,” he said. He too said that he could work with the GOP to shorten the voting schedule so that senators could go home earlier.
Throughout the month, Senate Republicans have used all of the parliamentary weapons at their disposal to slow down the healthcare bill. They have insisted on having lengthy amendments read out loud, adding droning hours to the tedious debate.
But today’s vote, the second procedural vote won by Democrats, seems to assure that the bill will pass by Christmas Eve at the latest.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs took note of what seem to be the inevitable this morning in his televised briefing with reporters, saying passage was no longer a question of if, but when.
President Obama has also delayed his departure for a vacation in Hawaii to be on hand if needed, Gibbs said.
If the outcome seems assured, so too is the political fallout.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) denounced an agreement to have the federal government pick up the Medicaid expansion costs for Nebraska, a concession given to win Sen. Ben Nelson’s vote.
“That’s not change you can believe in. That’s sleazy,” Graham said on NBC’s “Today” show.
Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa defended the concessions, saying: “The one that’s being talked about for Nebraska, it also benefits other states. It’s not just Nebraska.”
-- Michael Muskal
