After arguing for days about whether Senator Grinch E. Grinch was a Democrat or a Republican, party leaders on Tuesday afternoon announced that they had reached an agreement to save Christmas.
They will hold the final vote on major health care legislation at 8 a.m. on Thursday — Christmas Eve — followed by a vote on raising the nation’s debt limit.
Then, the seasonal cheer can finally begin, and senators will race to the airport in an effort to catch flights, hoping to beat the big snowstorm expected later that night across much of the West and Midwest.
Absent any Democratic absences for a procedural vote on Wednesday afternoon, or some other unforeseen development, the health care bill is expected to be adopted.
The final vote on the health care legislation had tentatively been scheduled for after 7 p.m. on Thursday because Republicans said they would insist on using up the full 30 hours of debate that are allowed under the rules after a filibuster has been cut off. The debt limit vote had threatened to bring senators back to Washington during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
The Senate will now hold the last of the procedural votes on health care – to cut off the last Republican filibuster of the bill – on Wednesday afternoon.
The vote on the debt limit will allow a temporary two-month increase, long enough to prevent the country from defaulting, but guaranteeing that there will be another angry debate over fiscal policy in the early part of next year.
The scheduling agreement, between the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, will allow the Republicans to say that they pushed the vote right up to Christmas Eve without having to ruin the holiday travel plans of senators and their aides — not to mention the staff in the Capitol that takes no sides in the various legislative fights but often takes a beating at times like this.
Of course, no sooner had Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell announced their agreement, than Republicans and Democrats were back at each others’ throats on the Senate floor.
Senator Roger F. Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, put up a large map highlighting the states of Nebraska, Vermont and Massachusetts to illustrate that those states will get extra financial support from the federal government to help pay for an expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income Americans.
Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, joining Mr. Crapo on the floor, demanded that all states be treated equally and asked that all senators unanimously agree to change the legislation to do that. Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, objected.