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House Democrats abandon 'deem and pass'
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
03/20/10 2:45 PM EDT
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Democrats on Saturday backed down on a plan that would have allowed them to vote on passing the bill without directly voting on it.
The House Sunday will have to pass a Senate-authored health care bill that many House members don't like. They have crafted a smaller bill that makes changes to the Senate bill, including new language that will exempt labor unions from much of the impact of an excise tax on expensive insurance policies. Democrats wanted to pass the smaller bill and then "deem" the larger, unpopular bill to be passed without ever voting on it directly. But they received considerable backlash, with even Democrats in their own caucus complaining about the tactic.
"We've had sanity prevail here and I'm very pleased about that," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., who is a member of the House Rules Committee, which on Saturday spent hours debating the bill and the process that will be used to consider it.
According to a top Democratic leadership aide, the House will vote on the smaller bill first, then hold an up or down vote on the Senate bill.
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