So Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)—plagued by health problems and an allegation that he harassed a male staffer—will resign on Monday. What does that mean for health care?
It means that, if the vote were to come next week, the threshold for passage of health care reform would drop back to 216 from its current 217.
Recall that Republicans delayed the retirement of Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA), simply to boost the vote threshold for health care to 217. Massa’s retirement cancels that out.
And remember, too, that Massa voted against health care reform the first time around. So his resignation will not only draw down the number of votes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to collect. It does so without decreasing the number of members in the Democratic caucus who have already voted for reform.
In other words, the resignation actually improves the situation for Pelosi. Separately, he could have stayed in the House, and changed his vote from “no” to “yes.” But as a rule of thumb, the more “no” votes who retire or don’t show up when the bill is on the floor, the easier everything is on Pelosi.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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