Healthcare vote set

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- On the night before Christmas the U.S. Senate will not be filled with senators waiting for the final vote on the healthcare reform bill.

Republicans agreed to hold the vote at 8 a.m. Thursday giving senators time to travel back home. Earlier they had promised to play the Grinch who stole Christmas Eve if not Christmas itself by delaying the vote to 9 or 10p.m. Still this will be the first time the Senate has met on Christmas Eve in 46 years.

Faced with the reality that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., controls the 60 votes needed for passage the GOP leaders relented. In an ironic twist Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., had called for prayers that a senator miss a vote

He got his wish. His Republican colleague Sen. James Inhofe failed to make the second procedural vote Tuesday giving the Democrats a 60-39 majority. A third procedural vote was set for Wednesday before Thursday's final vote.

President Obama has said he may delay his departure to Hawaii for the Christmas vacation until the Senate has finished its work. The first family was due to fly out of Washington Wednesday.