Senate Republicans, fearing the Democratic majority could use a parliamentary procedure called “reconciliation” to bypass filibusters and pass health-care legislation with a simple majority vote, are telling Democrats in the House not to trust their Senate party colleagues.
The warning marks another salvo in GOP attempts to thwart use of the tactic, called by some “the nuclear option,” because they say the process would require House Democrats to approve the Senate bill, something they have not supported.
“I think it should cause questions for my colleagues in the House,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican from New Hampshire who opposes the Senate bill.
To this point, both the House and Senate have passed their own versions of health-care legislation.But the two bodies have not been able to agree on a compromise bill that could pass in both chambers – as well as garner the needed 60 votes in the Senate to end debate.
Instead, under a reconciliation strategy, the House would need to first pass the Senate bill.The president would sign it into law.Then, the two chambers would pass amending legislation, now under negotiation, to modify the new law.However, this time, the Senate would only need 51 votes – not 60.
Republican lawmakers are calling this is a leap of faith for House Democrats, because in following this path the Senate version will bear the president’s signature before the amending legislation is formally considered.
“If you're a senator from the Democratic side of the aisle, do you really want to … help out your friends on the Democratic side of the aisle in the House when you've already got what you want, which is the Democratic Senate bill being passed and signed by the president?” said Gregg.
On Wednesday, the full 41-member Republican caucus in the Senate also sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, telling him they would block any parts of the amending legislation that were not directly related to budget matters.
According to Senate rules, reconciliation may only deal with issues central to the budget, and must make changes to standing law.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, following a meeting with her party caucus and administration officials Thursday morning, acknowledged there were limits to the Senate procedure.
“Reconciliation is a very narrow discipline,” she said. “That was emphasized to the members this morning. Unless a provision is central to the budget, it cannot be considered.”
But in even discussing the use of reconciliation, and its limits, House leaders might be signaling their willingness to trust their Senate brethren.
Pelosi and fellow Democrats will gather again on Thursday afternoon, while members in both houses await a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the amending legislation to determine how it affects reform’s overall cost.
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