Democrats Insist on Healthcare Nuclear Option

Rangel Submits Nuclear Option Letter

On Thursday, October 15th, the majority of Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee, under the leadership of Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, chose to disregard all amendments to H.R. 3200 being offered by Republicans. Rather than continuing debate, Rep. Rangel instead submitted a letter to the Budget Committee that has now further opened the door for health care legislation to be passed by a process called reconciliation. Under the normal legislative process, a 60-vote majority is needed for a bill to pass in the senate. Failing to reach that magic number, members of the senate can filibuster the legislation, unless or until the 60-vote minimum is met. Under rare circumstances, typically processes involving the budget, a filibuster can be denied and reconciliation, otherwise known as the "nuclear option," is then invoked allowing a bill to pass with only a simple majority (51). This process is typically unheard of, especially for legislation as controversial and profound as the healthcare reform bill currently being proposed.

Regarding this underhanded action, Ranking Committee Member Dave Camp’s (R-MI) website states, "In shutting down the committee hearing, Democrats took one step closer toward going-it-alone on health care and through the reconciliation process that eliminates standard procedures for bill consideration in the U.S. Senate." Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and top Republican on the House Budget Committee further warned, "The secret of the week is that Democrats pulled the trigger on the nuclear option. They built their vehicle today."

Rep. Charlie Rangel, who’s been under intense scrutiny lately for alleged ethics violations, had a different take on the matter. In a Thursday afternoon press release, Rangel stated, "Today’s vote is strictly procedural, it does not change the substance of the health reform bill and it does not indicate a change in process as the bill moves toward a vote in the House of Representatives." Insistent that Senate Republicans would stand in the way, Rangel added, “Today’s action was necessary because there is a possibility that a handful of Senate Republicans could choose to engage in partisan tactics to stall this important health reform bill." Since every single Republican, along with 3 Democrats voted against the H.R. 3200 bill while in committee, wouldn’t using the term "handful" be considered an understatement? 

The vote on Thursday was 22-18 in favor of sending the reconciliation letter to the Committee on the Budget, according to a clerk in the House Ways and Committee. Artur Davis (D-AL), who voted in favor of the bill in July, did not participate in the Thursday vote. Based on a statement on Congressman Davis’ website, he may have had a change of heart after that July vote when he commented, "… after analyzing this legislation for two weeks, I have come to the conclusion that the House bill is the wrong approach and unless it changes in a substantial way, it will not have my vote on the floor."

Republican Amendments to Healthcare Bill Dismissed

Regarding the Thursday session in the House Ways and Means Committee, since Rep. Rangel made the comment on record that, "Republicans have not presented the Committee with a health reform bill for consideration," some may find it interesting to note that the 10 amendments Republicans hoped to contribute to the healthcare reform debate on Thursday were summarily dismissed. These amendments, which seem to reflect many of the concerns expressed by voters in recent town hall forums, include:

1. Forcing Members of Congress to Get Health Insurance through the Government-Run Exchange.
2. Giving the American People and their Representatives 72 Hours to Read and Analyze Health Care Bill Before a Vote.
3. Allowing Seniors to Receive Facts about Democrat Proposed Medicare Benefit Cuts.
4. Reducing Lawsuit Abuse and Defensive Medicine.
5. Preventing Health Care from Increasing the Deficit.
6. Protecting Taxpayer Dollars from Going to ACORN.
7. Preventing Illegal Aliens from Receiving Taxpayer Funded Benefits.
8. Preventing Private Coverage from Becoming More Expensive as a Result of the Government-Run Plan.
9. Having CMS Inform Seniors’ about Medicare Premium Increases Resulting from H.R. 3200.
10. Reducing the Number of Years Americans Pay Higher Taxes but Get No Health Care Reform.

Committee Voting Results

In July, H.R. 3200 was passed out of the Committee on Ways and Means by a vote of 23-18. Every Republican member of the committee voted against the bill, and all but three committee Democrats voted in the bill’s favor.

The Republicans voting against the passage of H.R. 3200 in July were: Dave Camp (R-MI), Wally Herger (R-CA), Sam Johnson (R-TX), Kevin Brady (R-TX), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Eric Cantor (R-VA), John Linder (R-GA), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Pat Tiberi (R-OH), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Geoff Davis (R-KY), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Charles Boustany, JR. (R-LA), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Peter Roskam (R-IL). The Democratic representatives that voted against H.R. 3200 in July were Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), and Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI).

Democrats voting in favor of passing H.R. 3200 out of the Committee on Ways and Means were: Charles Rangel (D-NY), Pete Stark (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), John Lewis (D-GA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Artur Davis (D-AL), Danny Davis (D-IL), Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Brian Higgins (D-NY), John Yarmuth (D-KY).

The results of the committee vote regarding the submission of the reconciliation "nuclear option" letter have not yet been released. Those results will be posted as soon as we get them.