By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is known to be an expert on the Senate’s most arcane rules, has already begun a legislative process that will bring the House-passed repeal of ObamaCare to a vote where many nervous Democrats up for re-election in 2012 will be forced to make their position known on the vastly unpopular bill.
The Hill is reporting that McConnell invoked a rule typically used only by leaders in the Senate which will bypass committee action and put the bill directly before the members. This can be done even without the support of the Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who has vowed to keep the bill off the floor in order to protect members up for re-election from having to cast a vote on such a controversial issue.
This doesn’t mean there won’t be a fight, however, but insiders say McConnell has a crack staff who are known for being able to find creative ways to make sure a vote takes place.
MSNBC is reporting that even if this fails, McConnell has other tricks up his sleeve. He can withhold any deals or agreements to proceed to any legislation without a guarantee of a repeal vote, which would “effectively throw sand in the Senate’s procedural gears” until the bill is addressed.
Another way to force a vote would be for McConnell or any Republican senator to offer a “motion to suspend the rules” which results in requiring a vote on a repeal amendment. If all members are present, it would take 67 votes to succeed. This was the same rule Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently used to force a vote to ban earmarks after Sen. Reid, who controls the Senate’s schedule, refused to bring the measure to a vote.
At the moment, it is unclear how the vote would be cast, although most believe it would be close to a party-line vote with some Democratic Senators, such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin who ran a campaign ad in which he fired a bullet through the health care reform law, expected to side with conservatives.
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