Move Back
![Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid]()
The Senate's top Democrat, who has played a pivotal role in negotiating deals on the Senate bill, said in advance of the summit that Republicans should "stop crying" over the possibility that budget reconciliation could be used to pass the legislation. Reconciliation is a procedural maneuver through which the Democrats could pass portions of reform legislation with a simple 51-vote majority.![Sen. Mitch McConnell]()
The Senate minority leader remains strongly opposed to what he and others in his party have called a Democratic-controlled "takeover" of health care. He also says a public insurance option "puts us very close to a single-payer system," though only the House bill includes such an option. McConnell, who voted against the Senate health bill last December, called Obama's health care proposal unveiled Monday a "major disappointment."![House Speaker Nancy Pelosi]()
A staunch supporter of the so-called "public option," Pelosi, D-Calif., succeeded in getting a sweeping reform bill through the House last November. To finalize the legislation, Pelosi favors a plan under which Senate Democrats would use the parliamentary procedure known as "budget reconciliation" to adopt some of the measures from the House bill that differ from the Senate bill.![Rep. John Boehner]()
The House minority leader, who stands in strong opposition to "Democrats' government takeover of health care," is calling on lawmakers to "scrap" the health care bills passed in Congress and start discussions Thursday "with a clean sheet of paper." Boehner, R-Ohio, who is concerned about "job-killing taxes, fees and new layers of bureaucratic red tape," has said lowering costs should be lawmakers' top priority.![Rep. Steny Hoyer]()
The Maryland congressman is second-ranking Democrat in the House. He is tasked with helping to usher the final legislation through the House and opposes a provision in Obama's newly unveiled health care proposal that would allow the federal government to regulate insurance-premium increases.![Rep. Eric Cantor]()
The House Republican whip said in a memo Wednesday that House Democratic leaders do not have enough votes to pass the Senate's version of President Obama's massive health care overhaul.![Rep. Paul Ryan]()
This Wisconsin Republican was tapped by Boehner to attend the summit. Ryan recently introduced legislation to give future Medicare beneficiaries vouchers to buy private health plans and also give future Social Security beneficiaries the option of investing some of their Social Security money in private accounts.![Sen. Mike Enzi]()
Enzi, a Wyoming Republican and the party's ranking member on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has said he doesn't expect Thursday's health care pow-wow to lead to a bipartisan health reform bill.![Sen. Jon Kyl]()
Kyl, the Republican whip in the Senate, has been skeptical of the health care summit and the Democrats' possible use of "budget reconciliation" to pass legislation. Kyl, of Arizona, told reporters recently that "it's hard for us to quite understand why, with reconciliation being planned, we're having a meeting which is allegedly designed to engender some bipartisan agreement for a way forward."![Sen. Chuck Grassley]()
The Iowa Republican, one of the so-called "gang of six" that tried unsuccessfully to reach bipartisan agreement on the legislation, is calling on Obama and Congress to start from scratch.![Sen. Chris Dodd]()
The Connecticut Democrat and member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee played a pivotal role in pushing the bill through committee during the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's battle with brain cancer. Kennedy was chairman at the time.![Rep. Charles Rangel]()
The New York Democrat, one of five House members representing the House in health care negotiations with the Senate, said he doesn't foresee a plan without the "public option" winning approval in the House.![Sen. Max Baucus]()
The Montana Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee played a leading role in writing the sweeping health care bill that passed in the Senate, which did not include a government-run insurance option.![Sen. Richard Durbin]()
The Senate majority whip is spearheading health care legislative efforts in the Senate and said Tuesday he's prepared to pass legislation with zero Republican votes. Durbin, D-Ill., the number two Democrat, has said he favors "budget reconciliation" to push a bill into law and touted the Obama's proposal as a genuinely bipartisan effort.![Rep. Dave Camp]()
The Michigan Republican and House Ways and Means Ranking Member has blasted Obama's health care proposal, saying it "will sink our economy and wreck the health insurance millions of Americans have and like." Camp said he hopes Democrats will "wipe the slate clean" for new reform discussions at the summit.![Rep. Marsha Blackburn]()
The Tennessee Republican and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has been an outspoken critic of Obama's overhaul efforts. Boehner picked Blackburn as one of several GOP "truth squad" participants to attend the summit.![Rep. Peter Roskam]()
Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., asks President Barack Obama, not pictured, a question as he addresses Republican lawmakers at the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore, Md., Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)![Rep. Charles Boustany]()
A heart surgeon for more than 20 years and member of the Ways and Means Committee, Boustany has blasted Obama's overhaul for failing to provide enough benefits for families and small businesses. The Louisiana Republican, who was tapped by the GOP to provide the rebuttal to Obama's health care speech in September, is staunchly opposed to a government-run option.![Sen. John Barrasso]()
This Wyoming Republican, physician and co-host of the "Senate Doctors Show," was picked by Boehner as a "truth squad" participant in Thursday's meeting.![Rep. George Miller]()
House Education and Labor committee Chairman Rep. George Miller D-Calif. listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2009, during the committee's hearing examining the abusive and deadly use of seclusion and restraint in schools. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)![Rep. James Clyburn]()
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks with Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., left, after meeting with President Obama and House Democrats about health care on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)![Rep. John Dingell]()
Representative John Dingell (D-MI) makes remarks to reporters on pending legislation before Congress as part of the Reuters Regulation Summit, in Washington, February 7, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES)![Rep. Henry Waxman]()
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 30,2009, during the committee's markup on H.R. 3200, America Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)![Sen. Tom Harkin]()
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, left, accompanied by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., talks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, following a meeting between Cabinet, Congressional members and first lady Michelle Obama to discuss childhood obesity. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)![Sen. Tom Coburn]()
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., listens to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speak about the health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)![Sen. John McCain]()
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., listens to a question from the audience at a Veterans Town Hall Meeting and endorsement news conference at the American Legion Post #1 Luke-Greenway Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010, in Phoenix. McCain is in a primary election battle with former Republican congressman J.D. Hayworth. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)![Sen. Charles Schumer]()
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, accompanied by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., gestures during a news conference introducing a bill to undo the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)![Sen. Lamar Alexander]()
In this photo provided by CBS, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., speaks after appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation" in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/CBS Face the Nation, Karin Cooper) ** MANDATORY CREDIT: FACE THE NATION, CHRIS USHER NO SALES NO ARCHIVE **![Sen. Ron Wyden]()
FILE - This Oct. 14, 2009 file photo shows Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. The original timber payments law, formally known as the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, was the result of years of effort by Northwest lawmakers, primarily Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and former Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Eager to plug a budget gap caused by the timber industry's steep decline, Wyden and Craig created a substitute revenue stream to pay rural counties that no longer could depend on revenue from logging in federal forests. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)Meet the Players
A showdown at the O.K. Corral or an amicable meeting of opposing parties? The outcome of Thursday's health care summit remains uncertain as Washington's power players gather at Blair House to stake out their positions on health care reform -- a last-ditch effort by the Obama administration to produce a viable bill. Heading into the summit, FoxNews.com takes a look at the dozens of Democrats and Republicans expected to attend.
Move Forward
- Meet the Players
