Reconciliation Is a Go

After a meeting with Harry Reid and other key senators, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced Wednesday that Senate Democrats have decided to pass health care via reconciliation in the Senate. The process will be a bit convoluted: The House will have to vote on the Senate bill that passed in December; after that, the Senate will vote through reconciliation on changes that it has agreed to with the House. “The first step is with Speaker Pelosi,” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. It’s unclear exactly how the Senate can back up its guarantee to the House on changes in the bill. “I don’t know what the gesture will be but it will be a convincing gesture” Durbin said.