As lawmakers clashed over major healthcare legislation on the House floor, Democrats struggled to defend procedural shortcuts they might use to win approval for their proposals in the next few days, the New York Times reports. Under one approach, House Democrats would approve a package of changes to the Senate bill in a budget reconciliation bill. The Senate bill would be "deemed passed" if and when the House adopts rules for debate on the reconciliation bill, or perhaps when the House passes that reconciliation bill. The idea is to package the changes and the underlying bill together in a way that amounts to an amended bill in a single vote, the Times reports.
