After all of the arm twisting that the Obama Administration has done to pass its latest version of health care reform in the House and takeover 1/6 of the U.S. economy, the Senate may never be able to pass the health care bill using Reconciliation/Nuclear Option.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-ND told Roll Call yesterday that it is unlikely the Senate will be able to pass a health care reconciliation bill unchanged from what the House passes.
Sen. Conrad said the Senate Parliamentarian has declined to make several rulings on issues in the bill that Republicans are likely to challenge under the Byrd Rule 2 USCA 664
The “Byrd Rule” states among other things, every provision of a budget reconciliation bill must have a budget impact and can not be “extraneous.”
“Although we have spent many hours with the Parliamentarian some things he has not rendered a conclusion on…Do I expect some ‘Byrd Rule’ challenges that will be upheld? Yes I do,” said Sen. Conrad
Sixty Votes are needed to waive the Byrd Rule points of order but with losing its “Super Majority” with the election of Sen. Scott Brown, (R-MA) Democrat-Socialists in the Senate only have a 59 Members and united GOP opposition to the bill, Democrats will be unable unlikely to meet that threshold if the Parliamentarian decides any provision of the bill violates the “Byrd Rule” or the Budget Act.
If a point of order is sustained, the offending provision would be struck from the bill and the entire measure would need to be passed again in the House before being sent onto the President for his signature.
More here from Roll Call
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