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January 20, 2018 at 05:35 AM
Members of the Senate voted 50-49 early today to block the start of debate on an emergency anti-government shutdown measure that includes three major Affordable Care Act tax-blocking provisions come up for debate on the Senate floor.
The Senate is preparing to resume debate on the measure at noon Eastern time.
The Senate will stream live video of the proceedings here.
(Related: Major Health Tax Blockers Reach Senate Floor)
Under normal Senate rules, supporters of the measure — which is packaged as the “Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018″ (ECAA), an amendment to H.R. 195 — need 60 votes in the Senate to prevent opponents of the measure from starting a filibuster. A filibuster is an endless round of debate.
Republicans hold 51 seats in the Senate. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is fighting brain cancer and was not able to attend.
Five Democratic senators ended up voting for the ECAA, but five Republicans voted against it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who supports the measure, voted against it for procedural reasons. Voting for the measure gives him the right under Senate rules to ask for the vote to be reconsidered.
An official record of the vote is available here.
Provisions in the ECAA measure would delay the start of the Affordable Care Act Cadillac plan tax for two more years, and they would delay the reinstatement of the ACA medical device tax for two years and reinstatement of the health insurer fee for one year.
