But to pass in the Senate, once it’s cleared cloture, does it still need 60 votes?
I think there will be another cloture vote after the conference, then a vote on the bill, if cloture is defeated.
So, if two of the three RINOs vote no on cloture, cloture would fail with only 59 votes, then Reid will also vote no so he can bring it up again at another time. Then, Reid and Obama will work the three over again, only harder, before Reid brings it up again.
Yes. The vote on passage of the amendment (which is effectively the Senate bill) is blocked by the certain possibility of a budget point of order. The bill is, in fact, against the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. But the violation can be waived in the Senate with the approval of 60 or more senators.
Debate on passage of the House/Senate conference report is unlimited unless 60 senators agree to limit debate. In theory, even though the Senate has requested a conference to reconcile differences with the House, the House could decide to adopt the Senate bill exactly as is, in which case a conference would be moot and the Senate vote for passage later today would be the last Senate vote on the bill before it is presented to the president.