Blog - Quick Update on Health Care

On the House side, the bill continues to be hung up in the Energy and Commerce Committee over concerns from Blue Dogs. But House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi [D, CA-8] said today that, once the bill is on the floor, it will pass. “I have no question that we have the votes on the floor of the House to pass this legislation,” she said at a press conference. It should be noted, however, that not all House Democrats agree with her assessment.

On the Senate side, a less optimistic statement from the Majority Whip, Sen. Dick Durbin [D, IL]. Asked today about the possibility of a vote on health care legislation in the Senate before leaving for recess on August 7, he said: “Initially we had hoped for a full vote by then, but I don’t think it’s going to be possible.” Until today, the Democratic leadership in the Senate had insisted that health care reform was still on schedules and that a vote would take place before the August recess.