(NAFB) – House members may pass health care reform legislation without having the opportunity to vote on it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggests she might use a tactic known as a – self-executing rule – or – deem and pass. This procedure has been commonly used on legislation of lesser impact. Pelosi says she prefers it because it would politically protect lawmakers who are reluctant to publicly support the measure. Republicans quickly condemned the strategy, framing it as an effort to avoid responsibility for passing the legislation, and some suggested that Pelosi’s plan would be unconstitutional.
Here is how the procedure would work. The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers – deem – the health-care bill to be passed. A 1998 Supreme Court ruling states that each house of Congress must approve the exact same text of a bill before it can become law.
House Democratic leaders say they are having a problem coming up with a bill at an acceptable official cost estimate. The bill has been sent back to CBO more than once. But Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says they continue to plan a final vote this week. Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership was expected to – nail down – final language of a package of amendments to the Senate-passed health care bill yesterday.
