WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Senate Democrats reached a compromise yesterday with the last holdout senator that secured the 60 votes they need to pass a broad healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.
A marathon negotiating session on Friday clinched an agreement with Democrat Ben Nelson ensuring federal funds would not be used to pay for abortions and providing extra Medicaid funds for his home state of Nebraska.
Nelson, a strong abortion rights opponent, had been the elusive 60th vote for the sweeping revamp, Obama’s top legislative priority and the subject of intense political brawling for months.
“Today is a major step forward for the American people,” Obama said at the White House. “After a nearly century-long struggle we are on the cusp of making healthcare reform a reality in the United States of America.”
Nelson’s backing should secure victory for Democrats in the first of a series of crucial procedural votes scheduled to begin at 1 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Monday and possibly conclude with final Senate passage on Christmas Eve.
“It seems that way,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said when asked if Democrats had the 60 votes they need to muscle the bill through the Senate against unified Republican opposition.
If the Senate approves the bill, it must be melded with a version passed on Nov. 7 by the House of Representatives and both chambers must approve it again before sending it to Obama for his signature.
Reid introduced a 383-page amendment on Saturday making changes aimed at securing the last votes, including the abortion compromise and the dropping of a government-run public insurance option to appease moderates like independent Joe Lieberman.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office gave the revised bill a rosy review, saying it would cost $871 billion over 10 years and cut the federal deficit by $132 billion in the same period — meeting Obama’s cost target and goal of deficit reduction.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has vowed to use every tool possible to delay the bill, forced the public reading of Reid’s amendment. That took more than seven hours yesterday.
Afterward, Reid filed a series of procedural motions to bring debate to a close and set up a string of closing votes to begin early tomorrow. The moves came during a rare Saturday session as a huge snowstorm slammed the US capital, shutting down traffic.
