Health Vote May Have to Wait: Hoyer

The House may not vote on its health care reform bill tomorrow after all, thanks to Democrats' squabbling over abortion and spending, Steny Hoyer said today. “We’re very close,” the majority leader insisted, but “clearly things happen. Delay tactics can be employed.” Hoyer acknowledged that right now, Democrats don’t have the 218 votes they need to pass the bill.

House leaders are trying to hammer out a compromise on abortion and attach it to the bill in the rules committee. But Republicans complain that that will violate Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi’s promise to have the full text of the bill online 72 hours before the vote. Those protests could cause the very wait they’re seeking; if the vote doesn’t happen by 6pm tomorrow, it may have to wait until Sunday afternoon, or even Monday or Tuesday. (More Steny Hoyer stories.)