Democrats to forgo conference committee on ObamaCare

obamacare-its-to-die-forObama and congressional Democratic leaders agreed Tuesday to forgo a formal conference committee for reconciling the Senate and House health care bills. This wassconfirmed according by three Democratic congressional aides who told told Politico.

The decision means that the White House, Senate Majority Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will attempt to reach an agreement through private negotiations with key lawmakers. Once a deal is struck, the bill will go back to the House for passage, then to the Senate and on to the president’s desk — a legislative path that has been described as “ping pong.”

The decision to bypass the conference committee, which the aides said came during an Oval Office meeting Tuesday, formalized what many Democrats had long known: If they have any hope of passing the health care bill quickly, they would need to circumvent the normal order of business.

But the move — though not unusual in the increasingly gridlocked Congress — has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats, who say Obama is not living up to his promise of a transparent process.

In the meeting, Obama reiterated his desire to finish the health care bill by his State of the Union address, set for late January or early February, aides said — even though the White House has raised the possibility that the timeline could slip.

In what can viewed as a concession to House Democrats angry about the loss of the public option, the president said during the meeting that he wanted the final legislation to provide more generous subsidies to help Americans buy insurance, and stated a preference for boosting the measures beyond what the Senate bill offers, a congressional Democratic leadership aide said.

After months of maintaining an arms-length distance, Obama used the meeting Tuesday to delve into the health care negotiations, signifying the start of what a second congressional Democratic leadership aide said would be heightened involvement by the White House. Obama pledged to take a direct role in resolving House-Senate differences and setting the agenda and pace of the negotiations, according to the aide, who was briefed on the meeting.

Pelosi and her committee chairmen will return Wednesday for another meeting with Obama, and House and Senate staff also are also expected to sit down with administration officials, aides said.

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January 6, 2010 · Filed Under General Politics


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