Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip, just said on the Senate floor that he hoped the “manager’s amendment” to the health care bill — reflecting all of the final negotiated changes — would be introduced tomorrow, along with a score from the Congressional Budget Office.
Responding to an inquiry form Sen. Pat Roberts, Durbin acknowledged that the Democrats’ 2,074 page piece of legislation “is not the final bill.”
“There is a manager’s amendment that will be offered tomorrow, and it will be considerably smaller than this,” Durbin said. “And it will have specifics in it that will be reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office, and that is underway. It will be introduced, I hope, tomorrow morning.”
Once Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduces the bill and files cloture, it will set up the key vote for 1 a.m. on Monday, which will require 60 votes to pass, and keep Democrats on track for a final vote — a formality by that point if they already cleared the filibuster hurdle — on Christmas Eve.