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Kyl sees Senate health debate starting Tuesday if House passes bill Sunday
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03/20/10 07:58 AM ET
The Senate could take up the healthcare bill as early as Tuesday if the House passes it on Sunday, the second-ranking Senate Republican said Friday night.
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he expected the Senate debate on healthcare to begin Tuesday if House Democrats are able to stay on track and pass their bill tomorrow afternoon as planned.
The Senate would take up the legislation under budget reconciliation rules, which means that the process would be governed by stricter rules than typically guide Senate debates. Under those rules, there is limited debate and an exhaustive round of amendments before moving to final passage, which only requires a simple majority instead of the 60 votes normally needed to end a filibuster in the Senate.
Conversely, new elements of the healthcare bill could be stricken if they are deemed to not strictly relate to budgetary issues. Republicans are hoping to force such changes through points of order.
"Now, points of order can be raised at any time, and there will be a several points of order that can be raised against this legislation," Kyl explained.
If Republicans are able to force changes in the Senate, it raises the prospect of the bill returning to the House again, where Democratic leaders over there would be forced to wrangle the votes again to pass the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has signaled that he would like to move ahead with the bill with no changes, though Republicans will seek to prevent that.
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