August 3, 2009, 7:47 am
Sotomayor Confirmation Expected, but Health Care Must Wait
By David M. Herszenhorn
The Senate will close out a tumultuous work period this week by debating and voting on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
For weeks, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, had insisted that the Senate would meet President Obama’s deadline and pass major health care legislation before the August recess.
But with the Finance Committee, led by Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, still trying to develop a compromise health care measure, Mr. Reid had no choice but to accept the missed deadline.
The Senate is also expected to debate an extension of the popular cash-for-clunkers program. The House approved an additional $2 billion to continue the program, which offers vouchers of up to $4,500 to people who trade older cars for more fuel-efficient models. The original $1 billion authorized by Congress was gobbled up much faster than expected, raising questions about whether the program might have to be suspended.
On Thursday, Mr. Reid, clearly frustrated by the Senate’s inability to complete the health care legislation, lashed out at reporters, accusing the press corps of setting the August deadline for completion of the bill.
“I think that you folks have created the deadlines,” he said. “We haven’t. The president three weeks ago in his weekly address said that we’re going to have health care reform by the end of the year. And that’s our goal, and that is what we’re going to do.” He added: “That is a deadline you created. We haven’t created it.”
But Mr. Obama had insisted for weeks that the House and Senate each pass a version of the health care bill. And Mr. Reid’s comments were quite the turnabout from July 14, when he, at a news conference in the Capitol, declared that the bill would be done before the Senate departed for the summer recess.
“Before we leave here, we’re going to do our very best to have a good strong run on DOD,” he said, referring to the annual defense authorization bill. “We’re going to complete the legislation we have dealing with health care. And we’re going to — we’re going to confirm Sonia Sotomayor.”
In the end, it seems, Mr. Reid will have to settle for two out of three. The defense bill was approved on July 23.
And if all goes as planned, Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed before the Senate adjourns at the end of the week. While more than 20 Republican senators have said they will oppose her nomination, the Democratic majority supports her and at least six Republicans have said they will vote to confirm her as well.
Senators in both parties will be strategizing this week about the health care debate, which will move out of Washington as all sides begin an intensive lobbying push that will last throughout the recess.
The Senate is also expected to work on the annual agriculture spending bill, and lawmakers could take up a measure to create a nonprofit corporation to promote tourism in the United States. An earlier effort to pass that bill stalled in June.
In the meantime, the Finance Committee, including a bipartisan team of six negotiators, is expected to continue working on the health care legislation this week. Mr. Baucus, the committee chairman, has told colleagues that he will give the bipartisan group until Sept. 15 to reach a deal, or he will press ahead for action by the full committee.
Some Democrats, including administration officials, are hinting that Democrats are prepared to push ahead without Republican support if necessary. ”You want to do this with as broad a base of consensus as possible,” the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner said on ABC’s “This Week with George Staphanopoulos.”
“But people on the Hill are going to have to make that choice,” Mr. Geithner said. “Do they want to help shape this and be part of it or do they want this country, the United States of America, to go another several decades without doing what every other serious country has done, which is to give their citizens access to basic quality of care?”
Some Democrats are already thinking about how they might pursue the health care legislation using a hardball parliamentary budget tactic known as reconciliation. But whether the Democrats will try to navigate that tough road will not be determined until after Labor Day, at which point lawmakers will have gotten an earful from constituents and their views on the health care bill may have shifted.
The House has already adjourned.
Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/sotomayor-confirmation-expected-but-health-care-must-wait/?hp
Sotomayor Confirmation Expected, but Health Care Must Wait
By David M. Herszenhorn
The Senate will close out a tumultuous work period this week by debating and voting on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
For weeks, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, had insisted that the Senate would meet President Obama’s deadline and pass major health care legislation before the August recess.
But with the Finance Committee, led by Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, still trying to develop a compromise health care measure, Mr. Reid had no choice but to accept the missed deadline.
The Senate is also expected to debate an extension of the popular cash-for-clunkers program. The House approved an additional $2 billion to continue the program, which offers vouchers of up to $4,500 to people who trade older cars for more fuel-efficient models. The original $1 billion authorized by Congress was gobbled up much faster than expected, raising questions about whether the program might have to be suspended.
On Thursday, Mr. Reid, clearly frustrated by the Senate’s inability to complete the health care legislation, lashed out at reporters, accusing the press corps of setting the August deadline for completion of the bill.
“I think that you folks have created the deadlines,” he said. “We haven’t. The president three weeks ago in his weekly address said that we’re going to have health care reform by the end of the year. And that’s our goal, and that is what we’re going to do.” He added: “That is a deadline you created. We haven’t created it.”
But Mr. Obama had insisted for weeks that the House and Senate each pass a version of the health care bill. And Mr. Reid’s comments were quite the turnabout from July 14, when he, at a news conference in the Capitol, declared that the bill would be done before the Senate departed for the summer recess.
“Before we leave here, we’re going to do our very best to have a good strong run on DOD,” he said, referring to the annual defense authorization bill. “We’re going to complete the legislation we have dealing with health care. And we’re going to — we’re going to confirm Sonia Sotomayor.”
In the end, it seems, Mr. Reid will have to settle for two out of three. The defense bill was approved on July 23.
And if all goes as planned, Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed before the Senate adjourns at the end of the week. While more than 20 Republican senators have said they will oppose her nomination, the Democratic majority supports her and at least six Republicans have said they will vote to confirm her as well.
Senators in both parties will be strategizing this week about the health care debate, which will move out of Washington as all sides begin an intensive lobbying push that will last throughout the recess.
The Senate is also expected to work on the annual agriculture spending bill, and lawmakers could take up a measure to create a nonprofit corporation to promote tourism in the United States. An earlier effort to pass that bill stalled in June.
In the meantime, the Finance Committee, including a bipartisan team of six negotiators, is expected to continue working on the health care legislation this week. Mr. Baucus, the committee chairman, has told colleagues that he will give the bipartisan group until Sept. 15 to reach a deal, or he will press ahead for action by the full committee.
Some Democrats, including administration officials, are hinting that Democrats are prepared to push ahead without Republican support if necessary. ”You want to do this with as broad a base of consensus as possible,” the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner said on ABC’s “This Week with George Staphanopoulos.”
“But people on the Hill are going to have to make that choice,” Mr. Geithner said. “Do they want to help shape this and be part of it or do they want this country, the United States of America, to go another several decades without doing what every other serious country has done, which is to give their citizens access to basic quality of care?”
Some Democrats are already thinking about how they might pursue the health care legislation using a hardball parliamentary budget tactic known as reconciliation. But whether the Democrats will try to navigate that tough road will not be determined until after Labor Day, at which point lawmakers will have gotten an earful from constituents and their views on the health care bill may have shifted.
The House has already adjourned.
Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/sotomayor-confirmation-expected-but-health-care-must-wait/?hp
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