'We'll Have the Votes': Hoyer

House majority leader, whip confident about health reform passage
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 19, 2010 12:12 PM CDT
'We'll Have the Votes': Hoyer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., accompanied by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md.   (AP Photo)

Health care reform legislation will sail through the House of Representatives in Sunday's vote, Steny Hoyer says. “We'll have the votes when the roll is called,” the majority leader tells Politico. Democrats haven’t lined up enough yeas for President Obama’s key domestic agenda, but the majority whip seems as confident as Hoyer. “The bill will pass,” says James Clyburn.

Hoyer says the CBO estimate predicting billions in deficit reduction as a result of health reform has encouraged fiscally conservative Democrats to switch their nays to yeas. In addition, Bart Stupak and his “Stupak Bloc” of anti-abortion legislators could well vote yes, pending the acceptance of an amendment that would reinsert stronger House language stripped from the Senate bill. Though optimism reigns among Dems, Nancy Pelosi is quick to advise caution: “Every vote is a heavy lift.” (More Steny Hoyer stories.)

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