U.S. Rep. Harry Teague (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
U.S. Rep. Harry Teague sided with Republicans today in a failed bid to force a direct vote on the pending health-care reform bill the House is expected to consider Sunday.
There’s been a lot of talk about House Democrats possibly using the so-called “deem-and-pass” parliamentary procedure to OK the Senate’s reform bill by voting to approve the rules for the vote on the legislation and deeming the bill approved at the same time.
Many view that as quite different than a direct vote on the bill itself.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, Teague, D-N.M., and 27 other Democrats joined Republicans in voting today for a GOP resolution that would have required a direct vote on the bill. The resolution failed 222-203.
Democratic leaders haven’t said they’ll use the “deem-and-pass” method to move the bill to the president’s desk. But they’re also not taking it off the table.
Teague hasn’t announced whether he will support the reform bill. His spokeswoman, Sara Schreiber, said Wednesday that Teague “will make a decision on health care when there is a final proposal on the table. Since there is no final language and no CBO score yet, his position hasn’t changed.”
The final bill and analysis from the Congressional Budget Office were released today.
Teague, who voted against the House health-care bill last year, still has “serious concerns” about the legislation, Schreiber has said.
“Congressman Teague voted no on the House health-care bill and has expressed serious concerns about both the Senate bill and about using reconciliation instead of regular order to move this bill through the Congress,” she has said.