Road Map: Reid’s Health Bill Push May Spell Weekend Work 

Majority LeaderHarry Reid (D-Nev.) is hellbent on getting the debate up and runningbefore Thanksgiving, but he also wants to try to give Members next weekoff. Problem is, he’s still waiting for the Congressional Budget Officeto give him the magic numbers on how much this legislation is going tocost.

Democraticleaders told staffers Monday they expect that CBO score to be readytoday. But even under the most optimistic scenarios, Senate Democraticaides said the chamber would be unlikely to vote on whether to startdebate before Friday, and several said a Saturday or Sunday vote wasmore likely. Just over a week ago, the House narrowly passed its healthcare reform measure on a Saturday.

Eitherway, Reid wants to be able to roll out the measure to the fullDemocratic Conference on Wednesday, with an outside hope of briefingMembers today. Even if he gets the CBO score today, Reid probably willhave to wait until at least Wednesday to start the clock ticking on thetime-consuming and arcane procedural maneuvers he has to set in motionbefore the official Senate debate can even begin.

Afterall, Republicans are intent on trying to filibuster what is known asthe motion to proceed to the bill, a move that if successful wouldprevent the Senate from considering or amending the measure. Reid needsthe votes of all 60 members of the Democratic Conference to succeed,because 60 votes are needed to kill a filibuster.

Butto get to 60, Reid may have to let the bill sit for a 72-hour reviewperiod that several wavering centrists, including Sen. Blanche Lincoln(D-Ark.), have asked for.

Aides familiar with the Democratic leadership’s thinking refused to say how long the bill will be available before the vote.

“We’reconfident Members will have all the information they need to assessthis bill before we take it to the floor,” was all one senior SenateDemocratic aide would say.

Butanother aide said Reid would definitely “need to leave some window oftime between presenting the bill [to the caucus] and bringing it up fora vote.”

Evenif Reid ignores the 72-hour request, just filing the motion to limitdebate, or invoke cloture, requires a two-day wait before any vote.Filing a motion Wednesday, for example, would set up Reid’s optimalFriday vote.

Lincoln’srequest, however, could be no small matter, because she appears to bethe squeakiest wheel in the Caucus at this point, given other“undecided” Democrats now appear unlikely to vote for the filibuster.Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), for example, has not committed his vote, buthe has traditionally been loath to prohibit the chamber from evendebating a measure.

“Untilpeople cast their votes, there will be regular minding of the UnitedStates Senate,” another senior Senate Democratic aide warned. “I don’tthink you lock up any votes until they’re cast.”

Themessage leadership has been sending to fence-sitting moderates is thatthe delay in the debate over the Thanksgiving holiday should satisfytheir demands that the American public be given enough time to reviewthe bill before the amendment process starts when Congress returns onNov. 30.

Plus,aides are making clear that Reid’s mash of a Senate Finance Committeemeasure and a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill isnot written in stone.

“It’sreally just a starting point for negotiation with some Members to seewhat they need to secure their votes for final passage,” one SenateDemocratic source said.

Meanwhile,it appears that Reid has been receiving some initial numbers from theCBO, and those numbers are not a cause for alarm.

The second senior Senate Democratic aide said leaders are “confident” the bill will get “a good score.”

TheSenate Democratic source added, “I don’t think [Reid would] be goingahead with the process if he had a number that was out of whack. ...I’m sure it’ll be in keeping with the president’s stated goal” of $900billion or less.