US Senate Vote to End Debate on Healthcare Tonight at 1:01 am (updated)
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The Democratic leadership has scheduled an historic vote on healthcare reform legislation for 1:01 am Monday morning. All 100 senators are expected to participate in the vote for cloture, which would end debate and clear the way for a straight up-or-down vote on passage of the comprehensive health insurance reform package, later this week. The bill has been the subject of intense negotiation, fierce criticism and major compromise, though all of the compromise was within the ideologically diverse 60-member Democratic caucus.
The vote is expected to be entirely partisan, with 60 members out of 60 in the Democratic caucus (58 Democrats, plus 2 independents), voting for cloture, and all 40 Republicans voting to continue the debate and amendment process. There had been efforts to court more than one Republican senator, including both of Maine’s senators, to join the Democrats in voting for cloture and possibly even for passage, but so far neither Sen. Snowe nor Sen. Collins have expressed any intention to join the majority in voting for the current proposal.
Once the cloture vote takes place, assuming the Democrats get the 60 votes needed, the full Senate will hold a straight up-or-down vote, requiring just a simple majority — that’s half of the senators voting, plus 1 (the additional 1 can be the vice president, in his capacity as president of the Senate, casting a tie-breaking vote). Then the bill will move to conference committee, where some very significant, controversial and emotionally provocative differences with the House bill will need to be hammered out.
Republicans have been intensely critical of nearly every aspect of the legislative process, including the committee drafts, the public option for healthcare, the debate held this summer and fall, and the process of issuing amendments to the very complex 2,074-page combined bill. There have been accusations that the negotiating process virtually ruled out Republican participation, despite the Republican party’s openly declared opposition to being in any way associated with the healthcare reform process.
Sen. Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, the last holdout refusing to vote for cloture, citing abortion issues and his state’s budgetary struggles, won not only a compromise on federal funding for abortion (barring it in this bill) but also a guarantee that the federal government will provide 100% of the funds needed for Nebraska’s new Medicaid costs. The irony is that Sen. Nelson is a conservative who has questioned the wisdom of expanding government involvement in healthcare insurance, and Republicans criticizing the deal —like Sen. Graham of South Carolina— are now asking for more funds for Medicaid for their own states.
None of these issues will be priorities during tonight’s vote, as the only specific procedural hurdle is drawing debate to a close, calling the vote, and casting 60 votes for cloture. The Republicans have said they will continue to attempt to block the legislation by way of various filibuster moves, but if the Democratic majority holds together, tonight’s vote will end debate, and passage will occur in coming days.
UPDATE [Monday 21 December], 1:48 am: The United States Senate voted for cloture in a party-line 60 to 40 vote, earlier this hour. The Hill is reporting:
In the hours prior to the vote, Democrats and Republicans continued as they have for weeks, delivering partisan speeches and accusing each other, respectively, of obstructionism and bullying. There was little drama left in the proceedings, however, apart from the possibility that a senator might miss the vote due to the treacherous travel conditions in the aftermath of a major snowstorm that blanketed Washington on Saturday.
Though procedural in nature, the vote is an historic legislative victory for the Democratic majority, which will schedule a vote for passage of the bill before Christmas. Early reports suggest the vote will be scheduled for Christmas Eve, as the Senate leadership works the legislation through the procedural hurdles that precede a final vote.
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