White House, Democrats Struggle to Meet Deadline on Health Care Reform

White House and Democrats are struggling to bring a complex, controversial bill to remake the U.S. health care system to a vote in both houses of Congress before lawmakers recess.

(Fox News) - In an effort to avoid what could be President Obama's first major legislative setback, congressional Democrats are struggling to drum up support for unified health care reform legislation after the top budget scorekeeper hit them with a damaging assessment of the plans on the table.

Douglas Elmendorf, head of the Congressional Budget Office, told Senate lawmakers Thursday that the legislation does not include the "fundamental changes" necessary to rein in federal health spending. If anything, he said, the legislation would increase costs.

That blunt assessment emboldened Republican critics of the plan, ticked off Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and could ultimately send some lawmakers back to the drawing board to rewrite key details of health care reform.