At The New Republic George Washington University Professor Sara Binder provides one of the clearest explanations to date of what “deem and pass” a/k/a the self-executing rule is all about:
So how is the process likely to unfold? We can’t be entirely sure of all the details yet, but it will likely start on Saturday when the Rules Committee meets, most likely in its usual room in the Capitol—a tight squeeze with just a handful of spectator seats. At that point, the committee will unveil its recommended special rule and debate it. We don’t know yet for sure what the rule will say. There will most likely be that self-executing provision that “deems” the Senate-passed health care bill as passed by the House upon adoption of the rule or upon House passage of the reconciliation bill.
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The Rules Committee has now written up a special procedure for its debate and the House has approved it. If the rule is written in such a way that enactment of the rule itself deems the Senate bill passed, the Senate bill would—at that point—be ready for presidential signature. Health care reform, in other words, would be ready to become law. But it’s more likely the rule will stipulate that the Senate bill becomes law only after the House approves the reconciliation package. If so, reform’s fate will still not be settled. It will depend on whether the reconciliation bill passes.
And so the House will proceed to debate the reconciliation package, in whatever manner and for whatever duration the rule stipulates. Most likely, no amendments will be allowed. Once debate is exhausted, the House will move the previous question motion again, this time in preparation for final passage of the bill. Again, it will take 216 to agree to the previous question motion, setting up the climactic vote
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[I]f all has gone according to plan for the Democrats, the chamber will come to its up-or-down vote on the reconciliation bill. If 216 members vote yes, the reconciliation bill will go to the Senate. And the main Senate bill? That one will enter the “enrollment” process to prepare it for its journey up Pennsylvania Ave to the White House.
As I’ve noted already today, this procedure is not new, it’s been used before by Republican and Democratic Congresses to pass both incidental and substantive legislation. The only difference this time is that the process itself has become an issue, perhaps as much of an issue as the merits of the health care reform package itself.
Since most Americans aren’t familiar with the intricacies of House procedure, though, it seems like something fishy is going on. Why, the public wonders, can’t the House just vote on the Senate bill by itself ? Well, it can but the majority it choosing to use this method, most likely because it’s the only way it can get to the 216 votes it needs to pass.
The mistake the Democrats are making here, in my opinion, is that they’re going about this in a way that makes it look like they are trying to pull a fast one. Legally, I doubt it will make a difference and I doubt that the legal challenges to the procedure will succeed. Politically, however, I think the Democrats will pay a price for this.
H/T: Matthew Yglesias
