A senior White House adviser said on Sunday that President Barack Obama would get the votes necessary to pass a sweeping overhaul of the US healthcare system. "I think we will have the votes to pass this," David Axelrod, a senior Obama aide, told CNN's "State of the Union" program in a recorded interview.
Obama has delayed an overseas trip, his first of the year, to focus on the final drive to pass the healthcare legislation as the House of Representatives prepares to vote next week.
The House Budget Committee will meet on Monday to take the first steps toward passage of the healthcare reform, Obama's top legislative priority, with final votes planned in the full House by the end of the week. Obama has been pushing hard for a quick final vote on the healthcare overhaul, which has ignited a long-running political brawl with Republican opponents and consumed the US Congress for the last nine months.
Democrats hope to completely finish the legislation to expand coverage to more than 30 million of the estimated 46 million uninsured Americans and regulate insurance industry practices before leaving for a two-week recess on March 26.