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After House Speaker John Boehner's bill to raise the debt ceiling passed the House on a 218 to 210 vote, it headed straight for the Senate last night, where, as promised, it was quickly killed by a 59-41 Senate roll call, Politico reports.
Now it's Reid's moment, in the words of Talking Points Memo, to try "for the endgame" with his own measure. (The closer we get to August 2nd, the more chess metaphors emerge). Senate rules require a full day in between Reid introducing his measure Friday night and a vote to cut off debate, so there must be a key vote early Sunday, as The Washington Post reports. The Senate and the House are in recess until 1pm today, and a 1 am cloture vote has been scheduled on Sunday morning in the Senate over Reid's plan -- and it will be "climactic and dramatic."
Then this is what must happen next: If the Reid's bill makes it through that loop, its final passage would require a simple majority of senators to send the bill to the House. But, without the House's agreement -- the bill would require an additional 30 hours of debate for its final vote. So that means, according to the mathematicians at The Post, that Monday morning at 7:30 AM is the earliest a final vote could happen. "Then, the measure would return to the House on Monday, where it would face a final critical vote."