December 10, 2009, 4:11 pm
Senate Pauses on Health Bill to Take Up Spending Measures
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

The Senate voted, 56 to 43, on Thursday afternoon to temporarily put aside the major health care legislation and take up a crucial package of spending measures needed to finance many government operations.

Because of continuing procedural battles between Democrats and Republicans, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has to go through a multiday process to get the omnibus spending measure on the floor.

A final vote on the spending package is expected on Sunday, and the Senate would then return to the health care bill, aides said.

As the Senate plods its way through one of the busiest Decembers in recent memory, Democratic leaders are being buffeted on many fronts.

The spending bill is just one several pieces of must-pass legislation on the agenda before the end of the year. The Senate must also raise the debt ceiling, in a move that many lawmakers are dreading.

On the health care front, the Democrats’ latest proposal to resolve a dispute over the proposed government-run insurance plan, or public option, has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office for cost analysis. That process will take at least four or five days, possibly longer, giving Mr. Reid a window to deal with the spending measure.

But Republicans are not making his life any easier, and rather than agreeing to take up the spending bill they forced him to take procedural steps that will delay a final vote until Sunday.

And there were other signs of discord. Three Democratic Senators — Evan Bayh of Indiana, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and Robert Menendez of New Jersey — voted against the motion to proceed to the spending package.

Mr. Bayh and Mr. Feingold often disagree with the Democratic leadership on fiscal policy. Mr. Menendez opposed taking up the spending measure of a disagreement over a provision related to trade with Cuba.

Senate Republicans immediately suggested that the decision to set aside the health care bill, even temporarily, reflected disarray in the Democratic camp. And Democrats do not dispute that they still have not nailed down the 60 votes that will be needed to approve the health care measure.

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