Senate Democrats sprint to vote on healthcare reform next week

“The legislation is going in a direction I didn’t support in committee,” she said Thursday evening. “I told the president I will continue to work, but the timing – final vote before Christmas – is completely unrealistic."

Meanwhile, Republican leader Mitch McConnell, while not revealing the procedural strategy he will pursue on the floor, says he will use every means to stop this bill.

"[Democrats are] trying to round up 60 votes to do something that is overwhelmingly unpopular with the American people and particularly – particularly – unpopular with older Americans," he said at a press briefing Wednesday. “The American people are asking us not to make a historic mistake."

The Senate got a glimpse of how tough procedural politics can be on Wednesday, when Sen. Bernard Sanders (I) of Vermont introduced an amendment to propose a single-payer system for healthcare – the first time such a proposal ever reached the floor of the House or Senate. The Vermont senator, who caucuses with Democrats, began with a routine request to dispense with reading the amendment. Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma objected. Since forgoing the reading required unanimous consent, the clerk began going through the 767-page amendment. Near Hour 2, Senator Sanders relented and withdrew the amendment.

Yet it wasn’t over: GOP leaders said that ending the reading also required unanimous consent. But Democrats found an obscure 1992 precedent to make their case.

“The Senate has very few rules but thousands of precedents. And any senator that finds a precedent – not matter how old or obscure it is – they have a basis to go forward,” says Senate historian Donald Ritchie.

Democrats are preparing for a long battle. “The bills we used to do in a day or an hour now take weeks,” says Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of California, commenting on the harsh partisan atmosphere in the Senate.

“Everything has been delayed, so the Senate can’t move. In 17 years, I’ve never seen this,” she said Thursday evening.

But Republicans aren’t the only force of nature threatening to tie up the Senate majority’s plan. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning, including up to 10 inches of snow, sleet, ice, and strong winds Saturday for the capital – when in the past, Washington has shut down over a few inches of powder. “This will make travel very hazardous or impossible,” the warning concludes.

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