A Democratic source tells us the House, which has been debating the health care bill all day, will be able to pass the plan tonight.
The source said they have the needed 218 votes.
Coming up is debate about the amendment dealing with abortion, and then the Republicans will get an hour to present their alternative plan.
Votes will start around 10 p.m. The final vote might happen close to midnight.
Roll Call reports that the House Dems may be able to pick up one Republican vote for the health care bill: Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.) A former Jesuit seminarian, the Dems move to allow a vote on the pro-life “Stupak amendment” appears to have been key for Cao.
But also remember Cao’s political position. Read More
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) …
I wonder if Michele Bachmann wearing a lei (on the Floor) means she has recognized that Hawaii is a state and President Obama is a citizen?
GOP alternative amendment (i.e., the House GOP’s bill) goes down to defeat 258-176.
Late Update: Rep. Tim Johnson (R-IL) was the sole Republican to vote against the Boehner bill. No one seem really clear as to what his reasoning was. As I noted below, Rep. Cao (R-LA) is the only member of the Republican caucus believed to be in play. And he voted for it, though in a high stakes case like this it would not be surprising to see him vote for both.
10:58 PM: With amendments and procedural mumbojumbo out of the way, the actual vote is about to get underway.
11:01 PM: Not too much to talk about on a final vote live blog. Currently at 196 for, 29 Dems voting against.
11:03 PM: Currently ten more votes needed and 14 Dems still to vote. Presumably they’re going to do this on a straight 218, just like in the Clinton years. No ‘wasted’ votes.
218 for; only one Dem yet to vote.
Late Update: We have one GOP vote for — presumably that’s Rep. Cao (R-LA), though no confirmation on that yet.
The final vote appears to be 220 – 215.
House passes Dem health care bill by a vote of 220 to 215.
One Republican voted for the Democratic bill: Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA). See this post from earlier this evening on the background to his vote. Here’s Cao’s statement on his vote.
Late Update: Here’s the roll call on the final vote. And for those keeping score at home here’s the roll call on the Stupak abortion amendment.