Tuesday: Pelosi Makes Push for Vote; Mitchell Postpones Middle East Trip

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference with children’s health advocates on Monday. Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images.

With the House of Representatives inching closer to a historic vote on health care reform, Democratic lawmakers are intensifying their efforts to secure the 216 votes needed in the chamber to pass a bill.

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday she may resort to a tactic known as the “self-executing” rule to get the legislation to the president’s desk for a signature. Under the option, one of three the speaker is considering, the Washington Post reports, the House “would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers ‘deem’ the health-care bill to be passed.”

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein calls it “a circuitous strategy born of necessity”:

“The virtue of this, for Pelosi’s members, is that they don’t actually vote on the Senate bill. They only vote on the reconciliation package. But their vote on the reconciliation package functions as a vote on the Senate bill. The difference is semantic, but the bottom line is this: When the House votes on the reconciliation fixes, the Senate bill is passed, even if the Senate hasn’t voted on the reconciliation fixes, and even though the House never specifically voted on the Senate bill.”

Slate’s “Whipometer,” developed by its “crack research and development team,” believes the odds of the bill passing are likely.

As House leadership continues twisting the arms they need in order to pass a bill, anti-abortion groups are mounting a last ditch effort to push lawmakers to support tougher restrictions on federal funding for abortions. Meantime, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday is expected to release its official score of the bill’s cost.

U.S. Envoy Cancels Trip to Middle East

George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, has indefinitely postponed a trip to the region, as the Obama administration and Israel continue a feud over construction plans in East Jerusalem. Israel has so far resisted calls to drop the settlement, threatening the push for peace talks.

Fed Meets on Interest Rates

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep its key federal-funds rate near zero when it meets Tuesday. However, Fed watchers will be waiting to see whether the central bank repeats its pledge to keep rates at historic laws “for an extended period.”

McChrystal to Bring Special Forces Under Control

Looking to cut down on the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, the top U.S. commander in the country, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is bringing most special forces there under his direct control. An Afghan spokesman told the New York Times that McCrystal “was taking the action because of concern that some American units were not following his orders to make limiting civilian casualties a paramount objective.”

Protests in Thailand

Thailand’s parliament postponed a scheduled session as protesters rallied for a third day in Bangkok and poured blood at the gates of the government’s headquarters. The demonstrators, angry over the 2006 ouster of the former prime minister, are calling for the government to step down.