Dems Drop 'Deem and Pass' on Healthcare

House Democrats are dropping a controversial maneuver they had crafted to avoide a separate up-or-down vote on the Obamacare overhaul, Rules Committee member Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) confirmed to The Washington Post Saturday.

The strategy — by which House Democrats would have deemed the Senate bill as passed once they approved their package of fixes — faced intense criticism from Republicans and some Democrats this week.

On Thursday the majority managed to turn back a GOP resolution aimed at forcing the separate vote, but moderates continued to be rattled by the blowback.

“We’ve had sanity prevail here, and I’m pleased about that,” Cardoza said during a Rules Committee markup of the fixes package, after asked about the development by Rules ranking member David Dreier, R-Calif..