Democrats insist they are moving on health care, despite setbacks

Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter, New York Democrat, told The Daily Caller that chances were “pretty good” the procedure would be used.

However, the search for other ways to pass a bill indicated that Slaughter’s trick may be just a sideshow.

One of those alternative routes that Pelosi and Hoyer had explored was ruled out of bounds by the Senate parlimentarian Alan Frumin.

House Democrats had thought they might pass the Senate bill – which is highly distasteful to many in their caucus – and hold it in the chamber instead of sending it to the president for his signature.

The “hold” would be leverage to force the Senate – which many House Democrats don’t trust – to actually work on a reconciliation fix to the original Senate bill.

An aide to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad told The Daily Caller:“It is our understanding that the Parliamentarian is prepared to rule [that] … the president must sign the bill into law before reconciliation can be acted on.”

Yet House Democrats insisted there is enough latitude in the rules to pass a reconciliation fix that changes the original Senate bill before the Senate bill is passed into law, according to Congress Daily.