The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Sen. John Thune said on a conference call that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a cloture vote for this afternoon on the Democrats' plans to shift $247 billion in costs of health care legislation to a separate bill without offsetting spending cuts.

Thune said the vote to prevent scheduled cuts to Medicare doctors' payments could show that not only all Republicans, but several Democrats object to this approach.

As far as the larger health care bill, Thune said that he expects Democratic negotiators will emerge from closed door negotiations either next week or the week after with a bill that they'll bring to the Senate floor.