As expected, the House has failed to override President Bush's veto of a popular children's health insurance bill. The 273-156 tally meant that the Democrats fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority supporters needed to override.
The dispute is over a $35 billion spending increase for a children's health insurance program called SCHIP.
President Bush said Wednesday that he has asked three top domestic-policy advisers to negotiate a new deal with Congress.
After the vote, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and National Economic Council Director Al Hubbard and Office of Management and White House budget director Jim Nussle will try to work out a compromise on Capitol Hill.
"Obviously when we were going through the SCHIP debate originally," Perino said, "Republicans were cut off from the debate."
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