Steele: Obama would sacrifice seats in Congress to get health bill

The Obama administration may be willing to sacrifice some of its allies in Congress in order to force through healthcare reform, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele suggested Thursday.

“There may be a sense of sacrificing some seats in Congress…to push through the nuclear option,” Steele said during an interview on Fox News Radio this afternoon.

Steele was speaking about the possibility of using budget reconciliation to force through healthcare reform on a more strictly party lines vote, especially in the Senate, where only a simple majority would be required to pass the bill.

The RNC chairman suggested that President Obama, knowing how unpopular forcing through healthcare could be, would be willing to endure Democratic losses in Congress.

“They operate at that arrogant level, where they really believe we need to put in a system that will upend 1/6th of the economy,” Steele said.