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Without Stupak, Dems Appear To Be Short On Votes
Hours before a scheduled vote on healthcare reform, Democratic leaders don't have the votes.
The decisions of two Tennessee Democrats, Reps. John Tanner and Lincoln Davis, to vote no has put President Barack Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her lieutenants in a major bind.
If every member votes, Democratic leaders can only afford 37 defections. According to The Hill's whip list, there are 39 Democrats planning to vote no.
Furthermore, The Hill also has seven Democrats in the undecided/unclear column: Reps Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.), Paul Kanjorski (Pa.), Alan Mollohan (W.Va.), Mike Quigley (Ill.), Bobby Rush (Ill.) and Loretta Sanchez (Calif.).
There have been various reports on Sunday that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and other anti-abortion lawmakers have agreed to an abortion deal involving an executive order from the Obama administration. However, Stupak's office are strongly denying those reports.
Even though several Democratic leaders said they had the votes on Saturday, Stupak said on Sunday he and others were involved in intense negotiations with the White House late on Saturday night. The Saturday night talks strongly suggest Democrats are short of the 216 necessary.
On Sunday morning, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Democratic leaders did not have 216 hard commitments.
Some believe there are a few lawmakers on The Hill's Firm No, Leaning No, Likely No list who could vote yes, including Reps. Marion Berry (Ark.), Rick Boucher (Va.) and Mike McMahon (N.Y.) and perhaps others.
The problem for Pelosi is that is she gets Stupak on board, she may lose abortion rights legislators, such as Rep. Mike Quigley (Ill.).
Pelosi struck a deal with Stupak last November on abortion language. That bill passed, 220-215.
The Hill's whip list can also be accessed here.
Stupak: Pro-Life Dems Are Close To A Final Deal With Pres. Obama
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Sunday morning that he is close to striking a deal with the Obama administration on abortion provisions.
"We are close to getting something done," Stupak said in an interview with MSNBC.
Stupak said he engaged in talks late into Saturday night.
The possible deal would focus on an executive order that would specify there would be no public funding for abortions in the healthcare bill.
"We're close but we're not there yet," Stupak said.
Democratic leaders said Sunday they have the votes on healthcare reform, but Stupak said until there is a deal struck, they don't have the 216 votes they need.
Stupak said "there were eight of us" in the negotiating room, all of them no votes.
Stupak said Saturday that there were "at least six" of his original dozen that were going to oppose the health bill. He said that he was "going to think about" what would need to be included in an executive order to convince him that no federal dollars would go toward funding abortion. Further, Stupak said that he had not talked to the White House about such an executive order.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) confirmed Stupak's whip count of at least six holdouts.
In an interview with The Hill, Kaptur said that an executive order "could be helpful, depending on what's in it."
But, not having talked with the White House about such an action, she said, "I don't really know how real that is."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Saturday that he was "hopeful" that an executive order, under discussion by leaders on abortion, will persuade a majority of "pro-life" Democrats to vote for the bill.
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