The Reconciliation Process
[Guest post by DRJ]
WHO — Democrats only:
“Obama To GOP: It’s Over. Obama listened politely for six hours, with occasional flashes of temper, but in the end, the message was clear: It’s over. We’re moving forward without Republicans.”
WHAT — A health care plan with the one issue President Obama apparently won’t compromise … abortion:
“The President’s proposal was a pro-abortion health care plan before today’s meeting and after six hours of political posturing, it’s still a pro-abortion health care plan.”
WHEN — By Easter? We may know more next week:
“In Friday’s White House briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs skirted a question about whether the White House wants to use reconciliation in the Senate to advance a health care bill.
“Those questions are better left for when we have an announcement from the president on the way forward,” he said, referring to an announcement to come next week.”
Dick Durbin and Politico [below] say it will probably happen by Easter.
HOW — The Democratic Three-Step:
“Democrats will likely need to embark on three-step process, with a target to finish it before the Easter recess.
Step one, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Congress must first pass a reconciliation bill with major, but limited, fixes to the original Senate bill.
Step two, the House would then agree to pass the Senate bill.
Step three, both chambers would have to pass a third bill with policy changes that would not pass muster under reconciliation, which requires every element to have a direct impact on the federal budget. For example, the third bill would be needed to make any changes to abortion and immigration provisions in the Senate bill. … House Democrats may well withhold their votes on the first two bills until they are assured their concerns will be addressed in a third bill.”
The hard part is “How.”
— DRJ