Reid Votes Against Reconciliation Bill, Then Changes Mind

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) mistakenly cast a “no” vote on the health care reconciliation bill before the Senate Thursday afternoon.

After realizing his mistake, Reid looked down sheepishly amid laughter from the rest of the chamber. He then shrugged his shoulders and voted “aye,” joining 55 other Democrats to pass the bill and send it back to the House.

Following the “laugh off gaffe” school of thought most recently employed at the White House to downplay Vice President Joe Biden’s “big f---ing deal” comments at Tuesday’s health care bill signing ceremony, Reid joked at a post-vote press conference that his accidental no vote was an attempt at bipartisanship, “I spent a very restless night last night trying to figure out how I could show some bipartisanship." Reid said, "And I think I was able to accomplish that for a few minutes today.”

Could you say he was against it before he was for it? Probably not, but this isn’t the first time Reid has needed to change his health care vote. He did the exact same thing on Christmas Eve when the Senate passed their original health care overhaul bill.

-Fox News’s Trish Turner contributed to this report.