March 24, 2010

FOXNews.com

Senate Republicans are making a last-ditch effort Wednesday to derail health care legislation by forcing Democrats to vote on a series of politically dicey matters relating to the health care "fixes" sent over by the House this week. 

Senate Republicans are making a last-ditch effort Wednesday to derail health care legislation by forcing Democrats to vote on a series of politically dicey matters relating to the health care "fixes" sent over by the House this week. 

The "fix-it" bill makes adjustments to the legislation President Obama signed into law Tuesday.

Republicans are raising a series of amendments in hopes of changing any part of the "fix-it" bill to delay implementation and send it back to the House for additional votes.

The Senate will vote on 20 to 25 amendments -- including ones to ban various Medicare cuts, special deals and wasteful spending.

Senate Democrats are seeking to kill all the GOP amendments and have defeated the first 14, including one that would have prevented Medicare from being raided for new entitlements and another to eliminate special deals for certain states.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said there will be "no breaks" in between votes and estimated the session would last for nine hours.

Vice President Biden, whose position as president of the Senate allows him to shut down the vote-a-rama and move to final passage, is not expected to go anywhere in the next 24 hours, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide told Fox News.

Approval of the "fix-it" bill at the end of this week is virtually assured, since it's being debated under fast-track budget rules that allow passage with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes usually required for action in the 100-seat Senate. Democrats control 59 Senate seats.

House Democrats approved the Senate's health insurance overhaul on Sunday night. President Obama signed the Senate bill into law on Tuesday, declaring it "a new season in America" at a celebratory White House ceremony.

Fox News' Trish Turner and Carl Cameron contributed to this report.