PRESIDENT BARACK Obama yesterday postponed a long-planned trip to Australia and Indonesia, where he spent much of his childhood, to stay in Washington for a vote on healthcare legislation which may take place as early as Sunday.
The announcement by the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs coincided with signs that the House is likely to vote Sunday on the Bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve.
Although Democrats do not yet have the 216 votes they need, they’ve been encouraged by the conversion of a liberal representative who had intended to vote No because the Bill contains no government-provided “public option”, and two Democrats who are opposed to abortion.
In further good news for the Democrats, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) yesterday released its assessment of the plan as it now stands, including adjustments made by the White House, and concluded that savings would eventually surpass expenditure, reducing the federal budget deficit by $138 billion (€101 billion) over one decade, and another $1.2 trillion in the second decade.
Representative James Clyburn, the majority whip who is responsible for lining up votes, said his party was “absolutely giddy” over the CBO score.
Representative Henry Waxman from California said he thought “a lot of the undecided members people who care a lot about the deficit” and “this will go a long way to get their support”.
At a lunchtime rally on the Capitol steps, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the package contained more deficit reduction than either the original Senate or House plans.
“This is really a triumph for the American people in terms of deficit reduction,” she said.
Mr Obama was to have left yesterday for Asia. He initially postponed the trip until Sunday, but has now put it off until June.
Ms Pelosi said the president did not need to be in Washington for the House vote, but wanted to be on hand as the Senate considered the amendment package next week.
“This is historical. I’m sure he wants to be here for history,” she said.
In an interview with the right-wing Fox News Channel, Mr Obama expressed frustration with the Republicans’ focus on how the Bill would be passed.
There is a possibility that Ms Pelosi will use a “deem and pass” procedure which would entail only one vote instead of two in the House.
The tactic has been used often by both parties, but usually earlier in the legislative process.
“I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or Senate,” Mr Obama told Fox.
“What I can tell you is that the vote that’s taken in the House will be a vote for healthcare reform.”
A letter to Congress by 60 nuns, each of whom leads a religious order, has also given momentum to the healthcare Bill.
The nuns claim to represent 59,000 nuns across the country, and although they did not specifically mention a statement by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday, the nuns and bishops now oppose each other on the issue.
The bishops believe the Bill would facilitate the use of federal funds for abortion. This interpretation is disputed by the nuns.
"We looked at the Bill," Sr Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, told the Washington Post. "We believe it meets the test of no federal funding for abortion . . . I can't walk away from extending coverage to more than 30 million people."
The nuns argue that healthcare reform represents the true “pro-life” choice because it will provide medical coverage for the uninsured and those with pre-existing conditions, support pregnant women and invest in preventive care.