Baucus Huddles With Finance Democrats, Bipartisan Gang Wednesday
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday continues his effort to get his committee to a markup on health care reform legislation, convening both a Democrats-only Finance Committee meeting and another session of the six bipartisan negotiators on his panel.The sessions, designed to gauge Finance members’ positions on the framework of a health care bill Baucus unveiled over the weekend, comes within hours of President Barack Obama’s evening address to a joint session of Congress. Finance Democrats are scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. The bipartisan group of three Finance Democrats and three Republicans is set to huddle at 3:30 p.m. Baucus on Tuesday asked the Republicans in the negotiating group to submit any counterproposals to his framework no later than 10 a.m., and Wednesday’s session could determine the fate of the talks.