Senate Democrats argue that the House-passed health care bill contains a flaw that would prevent Republicans from using a powerful legislative tool to move the measure over the minority party's opposition. If the Senate parliamentarian agrees, that could prove a formidable obstacle to GOP plans to clear a major bill revising the 2010 health care law.
Democrats want the Senate parliamentarian to rule that the House bill ran afoul of the complex rules of so-called budget reconciliation, due to a provision that touches on the Indian Health Service. The House bill repeals a section of the 2010 law that created cost-sharing subsidies. Democrats say the provision that would be repealed falls into the jurisdiction of the Indian Affairs Committee, which was not specifically designated as a participant in the House's detailed reconciliation plan in the fiscal 2017 budget resolution.
