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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, remaking US health care, will face arguably its toughest test yet this weekend with a key vote in the US Senate, Democrats announced Thursday.
Under the arrangement, lawmakers were due to vote at 8 pm Saturday (0100 GMT Sunday) on whether to formally start debate on White House-backed legislation that could usher in the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in four decades.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled the 10-year, US$848-billion plan, which would extend coverage to 31 million Americans who currently lack it, late Wednesday after weeks of wrangling.
It was not clear whether Reid had corralled the 60 votes needed to ensure a victory on the procedural vote, amid seemingly unified Republican opposition and intra-party Democratic feuds, and the timing of Saturday's vote could slip.
"We'll find out when the votes are taken," Reid, who has zero margin for error, told reporters earlier in the day.
Democrats need to keep their 58 senators together and hold on to two independents to be sure to carry the day - 60 votes are needed to overcome any parliamentary delaying tactics by Obama's Republican opponents.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office unveiled an analysis of the bill that showed it could cut the US deficit by about US$130 billion over the next decade, likely boosting its appeal to wary centrist Democrats.
Much of the attention has focused on swing-vote Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas - all Democrats whom Reid courted on Wednesday.
The top senator's announced deal would launch debate Friday on what is called a motion to proceed, which is an agreement to start formal debate on the road to amending, then passing, the package.
The House of Representatives approved its own trillion-dollar version of the legislation on November 7, squeaking through on a 220-215 margin only after toughening restrictions on federal funds subsidising abortions.
The Senate version does not include that stricter language, and changes several other key provisions
If, as expected, the House and Senate approve different versions, they would need to work out their differences and approve the same legislation to send to Obama to sign into law.
- AFP/yb
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