Following an hours long "vote-o-rama", Senate Democrats approved the health care reconciliation "fixes" bill by a vote of 56-43, with Republicans unanimously opposed. Republicans successfully challenged some provisions related to the higher education portions of the bill, and thus were struck out by the Senate parliamentarian. One struck provision would have prevented any annual decrease in the maximum amount of Pell grants for students from low-income families. Democrats indicated they would omit the disputed provisions and expressed overall happiness with the outcome of the debate because they were able to successfully hold back 40 Republican amendments.
The legislation nonetheless will advance through Congress and now heads back to the House for one final vote, which is expected to occur Thursday evening. Final approval from the House is needed, in this case, because changes were made to the reconciliation package they approved.
For more, click here for a New York Times article.
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