In a briefing with reporters this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was asked whether the public option will be part of the health reform package that he brings to the Senate floor. Reid, who indicated earlier this month that a public option will be part of the final bill, gave a much more ambiguous answer this afternoon:
QUESTION: Are the negotiations leaning toward or against a public option at this point?
REID: The negotiations are leaning about a public option.
QUESTION: Can you clarify?
REID: He said, are we leaning toward or against the public option. I said we’re leaning toward talking about a public option. No decision’s been made. We had a — not a long discussion last night on public option. I’ve had a number of meetings in my office dealing with Democrats and Republicans on the public option aspect of it.
Reid concluded, “It’s not done yet.” Watch it:
Today, Colorado Sens. Mark Udall (D) and Michael Bennet (D) called on their Senate colleagues to give the public option an up or down vote.
Update
Brian Beutler writes, “Reid isn’t taking members to task publicly for standing in the way of the public option, he’s meeting with them behind the scenes. But it also show’s that he’s not willing to pose the question of the public option as starkly as is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
Previous in TP Politics
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.