Democrats tilt at GOP health care plan
Bill could clear Senate by the end of next week
WASHINGTON — They threatened to slow the Senate’s work with procedural motions. They forced the chamber’s top Republican to swat aside requests. And they delivered speech after speech after speech.
Democrats used all those tools Monday evening to try to draw attention to the Senate GOP’S effort to craft a bill scuttling President Barack Obama’s health care law and push it through the chamber by next week’s end. Their largely symbolic effort was likely to have little or no impact on how Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell handles the measure.
Yet Democrats were hoping it would have at least two effects — scare off Republicans wavering over whether to back the measure, and show liberal activists that Democrats are aggressively trying to thwart the legislation, even though they lack the votes to derail it.
Under special rules, each party will have just 10 hours of debate on the measure before the chamber begins a vote-a-rama, a series of quick amendment votes with little discussion.
As Democrats made a series of motions that Mcconnell turned aside, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., twice asked the GOP leader Monday to ensure Democrats they will have more than 10 hours to study the bill before the vote.
“I think we’ll have ample opportunity to read and amend the bill,” Mcconnell answered each time.
The procedures Mcconnell will use will let Senate Republicans pass the bill as long as no more than two of the 52 GOP senators oppose it. It remains uncertain Mcconnell will be able to do that, but both parties respect his ability to keep his party unified and count votes.
“At the end of the process, Congress will have a chance to turn the page on this failed law,” he said.