House Shoots Down Unemployment Bill

House Democrats pushed for it, but on Tuesday opponents of a bill that would extend unemployment benefits for Americans long out of work won this round of legislative jostling over how to help struggling job hunters without plunging the country too much further into debt. –KA

AP via Google News:

Democrats brought up the bill under a special procedure in which no amendments were allowed and debate was limited. Under the procedure, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The vote was 261-155, short of the two-thirds needed.

House Democrats now plan to bring up the bill again under regular business, in which the bill would need only a simple majority to pass, said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Levin said he expects the House to vote on the bill again Wednesday. In Tuesday’s vote, nearly all Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while most Republicans opposed it.

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