House Dems Drop 'Deem-and-Pass' Strategy

While Obama heads to the Capitol this afternoon and Democrats are busy hustling support from holdouts before Sunday’s health-care vote, the House Rules Committee is determining the procedure of the vote. According to The Washington Post, the committee has dropped the “deem-and-pass” strategy that would have bypassed the need for a separate vote. The strategy was much-criticized by Republicans and now an explicit vote will be held. Though all Republicans in the House are expected to vote against the bill and holdout Democrats are still grappling over the wording of clauses on abortion and Medicare, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “When we bring the bill to the floor, we will have a significant victory for the American people.”