House Passes SCHIP Expansion

Yesterday, the House passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion by a vote of 265-159. The bill enjoyed some bipartisan support, although Republicans accounted for only 45 of the votes in favor and almost all of the votes against. Unfortunately, this is a bit short of the supermajority needed to override President Bush's promised veto. According to Roll Call (subscription required), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) claims that this 2/3 majority can be achieved if just 12 additional Republicans cross party lines (although this assumes that the entire Democratic congressional delegation will vote together a block on this bill).

More like this