Washington » Early Saturday, off the House floor, some Republicans had a plan they thought could doom the Democrats' health care bill: vote present on an anti-abortion amendment and put vulnerable Democrats in a much more difficult position.
Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., said his idea -- to withdraw GOP votes needed to pass the anti-abortion language -- would remove the political cover some Democrats needed to vote for the overall health care reform measure. If GOP members voted present, then the anti-abortion amendment wouldn't have enough support to pass, and the main health care bill would be radioactive for some conservative-district Democrats to back.
But the strategy fizzled, and Republicans joined Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in supporting the amendment that would curtail federal funds for abortions and block any private plans that receive federal subsidies from covering abortion expenses.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speaking to a group of young conservatives meeting on Monday, said that out of range of the C-SPAN cameras, Republicans realized their counterparts had enough votes to pass the whole health care measure Saturday and Shadegg's strategy was a possibility.
"It was going through the minds of a lot of people," Chaffetz told the Young Presidents Club of the Heritage Foundation. "There were some gyrations and a lot of heated discussions. Ultimately, I think the reasonable answer surfaced up, which was you don't mess with abortions."
Shadegg said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already said she will strip the language of the anti-abortion amendment out before the chamber votes on the final legislation, so Republicans should use the Stupak amendment as a tactic to kill the overall measure.
In the end, he was the only one to vote present.
"We could have refused to let Nancy Pelosi force us to choose between 'life' and 'freedom,' " Shadegg said. "That's a false choice, and we didn't have to fall for it."
Saturday's vote, he said, "was our best chance" at blocking the Democrats' health care reform.
Chaffetz, and Utah's other House members, Rep. Rob Bishop, a Republican, and Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat, voted against the health care legislation late Saturday night.
Chaffetz also told the Heritage crowd that he would like to know who got promised favors for voting for the health care legislation, raising the prospect certain Democrats traded their vote for a political payback.
"It would be fascinating to see who got bought with what," Chaffetz said.
In other developments Monday:
President Chaffetz? » During a question and answer session at the Ronald Reagan Building on Monday, a question came via the Internet from Chris in Knoxville, Tenn., to Rep. Jason Chaffetz. "He's done great so far," Chris wanted to know, was he also going to run for president? Ah, no, Chaffetz responded, noting that his Twitter and Facebook pages list his user name as JasonintheHouse and that he had no intentions of seeking higher office for now. After the session with the Young Presidents Club of the conservative Heritage Foundation, Chaffetz dismissed a question about future aspirations. "I haven't even got done with my Senate question, are you kidding?" Chaffetz said, referring to the possibility that he may challenge Sen. Bob Bennett next year. But Chaffetz noted, "Never close the door on anything; you know that's my standard answer."
Hatch staffer leaving » Andrea Saul, who dealt with national media outlets for Sen. Orrin Hatch's office, announced she was leaving to go work for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's Senate campaign, according to The Weekly Standard. Saul previously worked on the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain.
