Wasserman Schultz tamps down talks of 'trigger'

A so-called "trigger" for a public option in healthcare legislation is not an appropriate compromise at this point, one Democratic deputy whip said Tuesday.

"We need to get as much significant health reform into the bill as we can, and get it on President Obama's desk," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said in a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

"I'm not supportive of a trigger," she said. "I support a robust public option at the outset."

Democrats have been mulling scaling back the public option by subjecting it to a "trigger," meaning the plan would kick in if health market conditions stay the same or worsen in coming years.

But as House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have indicated a willingness to accept a trigger today, Wasserman Schultz, one of 9 chief deputy whips, said that it would not be appropriate to even think of compromises until the bill reaches conference with the Senate.

She maintained that the trigger isn't appropriate "at this point," but left herself room to privot by noting that she wouldn't engage in "my way or the highway politics" after serving nearly two decades in government.

She also projected optimism that first-term, so-called "frontline" Democrats would be eager to support health reform this fall.

"To a person, they've each told me that they're coming back to Washington more committed than ever" to healthcare reform, Wasserman Schultz, a vice chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said.