President Obama’s latest sweeping health care proposal has pitted House and Senate Democrats against each other over who should go first in passing legislation GOP leaders promised will put them in the majority.
Even after Obama’s announcement aimed at pushing his plan over the finish line, Democrats in the House were reluctant to take the lead, saying they want the Senate to first pass a bill crafted more to their liking. Animosity between the two chambers is reaching a boiling point. House lawmakers are complaining that the Senate has yet to act on about 290 bills the House has sent its way this Congress, which makes them reluctant to go first on health care.
“We’re waiting for that cooling saucer of democracy that is the United States Senate to get off their high horse and start to pass some of these bills,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., Wednesday.
The Senate wants the House to pass their health-care reform legislation first, and then a second, smaller legislative package would be introduced containing corrective provisions sought by House lawmakers and the president.
But House Democrats fear the corrective bill will never clear the Senate, where Democrats there no longer control a 60-vote supermajority and the legislation would have to be filtered through the difficult “reconciliation” process in order to pass with just 51 votes.
“I think we have 290 reasons why we don’t trust them to do it,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who is opposed to the Senate bill because it does not prohibit subsidies for insurance policies that fund elective abortions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that Congress is finalizing a new bill, but that the House would not be taking it up right away.
Pelosi said, “We will see what the Senate can do” after the Congressional Budget Office puts a price tag on the measure.
But across the Capitol, in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Democratic lawmakers had already made up their minds that the House should the Senate’s health care bill first. When presented with the scenario put forward by Senate Democrats, one top House leadership aide signaled there was no such agreement, adding, “We’re still talking.”
The discord between the House and the Senate stems in part from lack of Democratic enthusiasm for the bill, which the GOP has pledged to use as a campaign weapon if it passes.
Republicans have pledged their 2010 campaigns would be based on repealing the bill if it passes.
Democrats may try to find a way to pass the Senate bill and the corrections bill at the same time in order to alleviate the worries of House Democrats.
“If we are going to take their dramatically deficient bill and bring it up to House standards, we are going to have to have a piece of companion legislation that moves at the same time,” said Weiner.
