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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Plan to bypass filibuster considered

Administration ponders strategy for health, energy bills

President Barack Obama walks with, from left, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Budget Director Peter Orszag and Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., as they leave the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Tuesday.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Lori Montgomery Washington Post

WASHINGTON – Senior members of the Obama administration are pressing lawmakers to use a shortcut to drive the president’s signature initiatives on health care and energy through Congress without Republican votes, a move that many lawmakers say would fly in the face of President Obama’s pledge to restore bipartisanship to Washington.

Republicans are howling about the proposal to expand health coverage and tax greenhouse gas emissions without their input, warning that it could irrevocably damage relations with the new president.

“That would be the Chicago approach to governing: Strong-arm it through,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who briefly considered joining the Obama administration as commerce secretary. “You’re talking about the exact opposite of bipartisan. You’re talking about running over the minority, putting them in cement and throwing them in the Chicago River.”

The shortcut, known as “budget reconciliation,” would allow Obama’s health and energy proposals to be rolled into a bill that cannot be filibustered, meaning Democrats could push it through the Senate with 51 votes, instead of the usual 60. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both used the tactic to win deficit-reduction packages, while George W. Bush used it to push through his signature tax cuts.

Administration officials say they have not made a final decision about whether to use the maneuver. But White House budget director Peter Orszag said Tuesday that it is “premature to be taking it off the table.” Meanwhile, key administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, are pushing for reconciliation instructions in the budget proposal that Democrats are scheduled to unveil next week, congressional sources said.

“I’m aware and the president is aware of the concerns that have been expressed, especially by Republicans, about its use,” Orszag told reporters at a luncheon organized by the Christian Science Monitor. “We’d like to avoid it, if possible, but we’re not taking it off the table at this point.”

House Democratic leaders also are pressing to use reconciliation in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the debate over the economic stimulus package, when a more expansive proposal adopted in the House was modified to appease moderate Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

With 58 Senate seats, Democrats need the support of at least two Republicans to block a filibuster. But they could pass a reconciliation bill without any Republican votes – and without the support of troublesome moderates in their own party.

Some moderate Democrats are arguing that reconciliation would empower their party’s liberal wing while undermining a critical aspect of Obama’s popular appeal – his promise to work across the aisle.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is handling health care, has spoken against reconciliation, arguing that he would rather have a health-care plan that can win broad, bipartisan support than a narrowly drawn proposal passed only by Democrats.