CNN

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao said Sunday he put the needs of his district over the desire of his party in being the lone House Republican to vote for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system.

Related: Lone GOP vote came after call from Obama

Cao's "yes" vote ended up being unnecessary for House Democrats in the 220-215 tally, but as the only GOP member to support the bill, he gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi license to tout bipartisan support for the controversial measure.

"I felt last night's decision was the proper decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party," Cao, a first-term representative from Louisiana's traditionally Democratic 2nd District, told CNN.

"A lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor," Cao said. "It was the right decision for the people of my district."

The first Vietnamese-American to serve in the House, Cao defeated nine-term Democratic incumbent William Jefferson in last year's election. Jefferson was under indictment on money laundering and bribery charges at the time, and has since been convicted.

Cao, a devout Catholic, said Sunday that an amendment to strengthen anti-abortion language in the House bill cleared the way for his support.

Read the rest of this entry »

Washington (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed a sweeping health care bill bya vote of 220-215.

Full story

Washington (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the insurance "exchange" the bill would create.

The vote passed 240-194.

A second amendment considered by the House, introduced by Minority Leader John Boehner, which would have substituted several sections of the health care bill dealing with insurance, did not pass. Legislators voted against the amendment 258-176.

Full story

Washington (CNN) - In the final hours before the House was set to vote on a sweeping health reform bill, indications were that the vote could come down to the wire.

House Democrats needed 218 votes to pass the health care bill. Without any Republican support, that meant Democrats can lose no more than 40 of their own members. And as the House appeared to near a vote late Saturday night, CNN confirmed at least 35 Democrats planned to vote no. Another dozen or so had not made public commitments or were undecided.

In other words, if no Republicans voted yes, Democrats could afford to lose only five more members of their 258-member caucus on the issue.

As late as 8:30 p.m. ET, some key Democrats were still undecided.

Full story

The president paused for a photo after meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and other House Democrats on Capitol Hill Saturday. (Photo Credit: Matt Hoye/CNN)

Washington (CNN) - Emerging from a meeting with President Barack Obama, the House Democratic leadership appeared confident Saturday that their health care legislation would pass.

"Today we will make not only history, but progress for America's working families," Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters assembled outside the meeting room.

"We're on the cusp of making an historical decision on behalf of the American people," added House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.

A senior Democratic aide quoted the president as saying during the meeting that he was "absolutely confident that you guys will get this done."

"Absolutely confident that when I sign this in the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and say 'this was my finest moment in politics,'" the aide quoted Obama as saying.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said the president made the case that Congress has a historic opportunity today to provide stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage for those who don't and bring down the cost of health care for families, small businesses and the government.

Burton also reported that Obama told the Democratic lawmakers that they had made more progress on comprehensive reform than any administration and any Congress in the past 70 years, and that they should take this historic opportunity to pass health care reform so that he can sign a bill by the end of this year.

Full story

Updated: 1:27 p.m.

–CNN's Elaine Quijano contributed to this report.

Washington (CNN) - In a special Saturday session, the House of Representatives began debating health care legislation crafted by House Democrats, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle considered an amendment to the bill that would put restrictions on abortion funding.

President Barack Obama made a rare visit to Capitol Hill earlier in the day to meet with members of the House Democratic caucus and push forward proposed the health care measure.

But the contentious issue of abortion is threatening to delay Saturday's scheduled vote on the nearly $1.1 trillion bill by the full House of Representatives and possibly push it back to Sunday, according to two Democratic sources.

In a late night development, anti-abortion Democrats scored a major victory by persuading Democratic leaders to allow them to offer an amendment during the debate Saturday that would ban most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the new so-called "exchange" the legislation would create, three Democratic sources told CNN.

The prohibition would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is in danger.

House Democratic leadership sources said that win or lose, they hope giving abortion foes the opportunity to vote will clear the way for passage of their health care bill. But sharp differences among Democrats on the abortion issue and others, such as immigration, are raising questions over whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi currently has the 218-vote majority needed for passage of the legislation.

Several anti-abortion Democrats will offer the amendment, including Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Indiana, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan.

House Minority John Boehner told reporters after debate on the legislation had begun that the GOP leadership strongly supports that amendment.

"We believe taxpayer funding of abortion is wrong, and we will do everything we can to stop that from happening, by passing the Stupak amendment," he said.

Full story

Washington (CNN) - President Obama will meet with members of the House Democratic caucus Saturday in a rare visit to Capitol Hill as he works to push forward proposed health care legislation.

But the contentious issue of abortion is threatening to delay Saturday's scheduled vote on the nearly $1.1 trillion health care bill by the full House of Representatives and possibly push it back to Sunday, according to two Democratic sources.

In a late night development, anti-abortion Democrats scored a major victory by persuading Democratic leaders to allow them to offer an amendment during the House health care debate Saturday that would ban most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the new so-called "exchange" the legislation would create, three Democratic sources told CNN.

The prohibition would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is in danger.

House Democratic leadership sources said that win or lose, they hope giving abortion foes the opportunity to vote will clear the way for passage of their health care bill.

Full story

Washington (CNN) - House Democratic leaders have put the finishing touches on their health care bill, setting the stage for bringing the measure to the full chamber as soon as Friday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, said Wednesday the bill would probably come to a final vote on Saturday.

A 42-page manager's amendment posted Tuesday night made mostly technical changes in the nearly 2,000-page health care bill compiled from three Democratic proposals passed by three House committees.

By making the changes public on Tuesday, the House Democratic leaders could open debate on the bill on Friday or Saturday, while fulfilling their pledge to allow 72 hours of review before bringing the measure to the full chamber.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have offered their first version of a health care bill that compiles a series of individual proposals repeatedly pushed in recent months by the chamber's GOP leaders.

Full story

– CNN's Dana Bash, Lisa Desjardins, Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett contributed to this story.

Washington (CNN) – With debate poised to begin in the House this week on Democrats’ nearly 2000-page health care reform bill, House Minority Leader John Boehner said Sunday that House Republicans intend to present their own health care bill.

“We are going to have a proposal,” the Ohio Republican said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, “And I would hope that the [House] Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] will allow us to have a debate and a vote on our proposal.”

Boehner added that this party intends to take eight or nine different ideas for health care reform currently available on www.healthcare.gop.gov and craft them into a single bill that Republicans will propose an alternative to the Democratic bill unveiled last Thursday.

Boehner also laid out for CNN Chief National Correspondent John King some of the key attributes of the GOP plan. “We do not increase taxes, we do not cut Medicare and Medicaid and we do not have mandates on individuals or businesses.”

Boehner also had a number of criticisms of the Democratic bill debuted late last week.

“This not affordable,” Boehner said as he patted a copy of the Democratic health care bill, “What this is going to do is bankrupt America. It’s going to cost millions of Americans their jobs and cut benefits for seniors. This is not what the American people want. They want a more gradual approach to fixing our current system.”

Related: House Democrats unveil $894 billion health care bill

Washington (CNN) - A new BlackBerry application released Thursday by the office of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor is the latest technology upgrade for Republicans.

The new "WhipCast" application is "designed to directly communicate with users in real-time," Cantor's office said in an e-mail.

"Today's launch of the WhipCast BlackBerry app is the latest demonstration of our commitment to modernize the way we communicate with Americans from coast-to-coast," Cantor said in an accompanying statement.

The new application - which was tested by Cantor's new media team before its public rollout - will deliver text, audio, image and video updates to users, according to Cantor's office. "WhipCast" also gives users access to Republican talking points, policy discussions, polling information, and floor schedule updates.
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Democratic leaders are preparing to unveil as soon as Thursday a health care bill that includes a more moderate version of the public option, several Democratic leadership aides tell CNN.

This version would allow doctors to negotiate reimbursement rates with the federal government, the aides said Wednesday.

The proposal would be a blow to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has argued for a more "robust" public option, one that ties reimbursement rates for providers and hospitals to Medicare rates plus a 5 percent increase.

But Pelosi and other Democratic leaders, after a week of canvassing rank and file Democrats, appear to be bowing to the reality that her preferred approach does not have enough votes. Instead, the more moderate version, favored by rural and moderate members, appears to have the most support among House Democrats.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office projects that the House Democrats' health care plan that includes a public option would cost $871 billion over 10 years, according to two Democratic sources.

CBO also found that the Democrats' bill reduces the deficit in the first 10 years.

This new CBO estimate, which aides caution is not final, is significantly less than the $1.1 trillion price tag of the original House bill that passed out of three committees this summer. More importantly, it comes under the $900 billion cap set by President Obama in his joint address to Congress last month.

CBO analyzed what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls a "more robust" public option - one that ties reimbursement rates for doctors to current Medicare rates, plus a 5 percent increase.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned her Senate counterparts Thursday that she intends to fight hard for a government-run health care plan as part of any comprehensive overhaul bill.

Pelosi's adamant defense of the politically polarizing public option puts her on a potential collision course with the Senate Finance Committee, which dropped the idea from its sweeping $827 billion proposal.

Democratic Senate leaders have not yet indicated if they will include the option when they combine the Finance Committee's legislation with a separate measure advanced by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

If the House and Senate manage to pass health care reform bills, a conference committee would then negotiate a final version requiring approval from both chambers before going to President Barack Obama for his signature.

"I want our conferees to have the most muscle for the middle class whenthey go to the table (to negotiate with the Senate)," Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.

"Why would "you throw (people) into the lion's den of the insurance industry without the leverage" of a public option, she asked. "Our House position is what we will go in there to fight for."

Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – As thousands of jobless Americans lose their weekly unemployment checks every day, Congress is still debating who should qualify for a benefits extension.

The House passed a bill last month lengthening benefits by 13 weeks for those in high-unemployment states. While Senate leaders said at the time they would act soon, the proposal has languished as Democrats argue over the terms.

Meanwhile, 400,000 people ran out of benefits in September and another 208,000 are set to lose them this month, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is pushing legislation that would lengthen benefits for the jobless nationwide by four weeks. Those in states with unemployment rates greater than 8.5% would receive a total of 17 additional weeks.

Full Story

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Congressional Republicans intensified their calls Wednesday for powerful House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel of New York to resign his post heading the committee, at least temporarily.

Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, introduced a motion that would have forced Rangel to step down during an ongoing ethics investigation into his finances and activities.

House Democrats responded by voting to shut off debate and instead send the resolution to the House Ethics Committee, where the matter has sat for a year. The move to effectively kill the resolution by sending it to the committee passed on a mostly party-line 246-153 vote.

The vote has no significant effect but shows Republicans are turning up the heat on Rangel and hoping to score political points by highlighting the ethics probe.
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Minnesota Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann said congressional Democrats were not guaranteeing lawmakers enough time to read the final version of health care reform legislation before they vote, telling conservative bloggers Tuesday that the majority party might be more interested in giving President Obama a political victory than in passing an effective plan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently pledged to post the final bill online for at least 72 hours before the House votes. But Bachmann said Pelosi's pledge is not enough.

"Three days is an embarrassment," Bachmann said Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation's weekly blogger lunch. "It shows how embarrassed these Democrats are of their bill. They know this health care bill is radioactive with the American public and if they give the American public more than three days to read this bill, all hell might break loose and they might never get this bill actually passed and done.

"It shows, again, that they have no confidence in their health care bill. They have no confidence in their leadership to be able to explain this bill."
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would overhaul the student loan system by ending a government-subsidized program for private lenders to provide college loans.

The House voted 253-171 for the bill that, if also passed by the Senate and signed into law, would effectively end the role of private lenders in making student loans. Instead, the government would become the sole direct lender for student loans.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would save more than $80 billion over 10 years by halting the subsidies to private
lenders.

The House bill includes increased spending for Pell Grants for low- and middle-income students, as well as more money for community colleges, early-learning programs, school renovations, and colleges and universities that historically serve minorities.

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday formally admonished Republican Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "you lie" during President Barack Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last week.

The House passed a resolution of disapproval on a 240-179 vote that was mostly along party lines, reflecting the Democratic majority in the chamber.

Five representatives voted "present."

According to the Office of the House Historian, it was the first time in its 220-year history that the House has disciplined a member for speaking out during a presidential speech in the chamber to a joint session of Congress.

During debate on the resolution, Wilson called the measure a waste of time and failed to offer an apology to the chamber as demanded by House Democrats.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Democrats said Tuesday they will formally admonish Rep. Joe Wilson for yelling out in Congress that President Barack Obama lied, calling it a serious violation of the chamber's rules that must be rebuked to maintain civil discourse.

Republicans, meanwhile, rallied around Wilson, with many saying a planned resolution disapproving of Wilson's heckle is a petty partisan distraction from more serious issues.

The shout of "you lie" by Wilson during Obama's health-care speech to a joint session of Congress has become a major story on its own, with the House scheduled to vote later Tuesday on a resolution expressing disapproval. It is the mildest form of discipline the House can exercise for misconduct on the House floor.
Read the rest of this entry »