House Democratic leaders Thursday abandoned a long struggle to strike a compromise on abortion in their ranks, gambling that they can secure the support for President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming as early as next week.

House Democratic leaders abandoned a long struggle to appease the most ardent abortion opponents in their ranks, gambling Thursday that they can secure the support for President Obama's sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming next week.

Top Democrats are fighting to attach the proposed overhaul of student loan programs to health care reform.

Health care reform takes center stage Thursday as President Obama and top congressional Democrats work behind closed doors to nail down a final agreement.

US Senate Democrats Thursday heralded a bitter endgame of President Barack Obama's health reform drive, announcing they would use a contentious legislative tactic to try to pass the bill.

In a boost to President Barack Obama's flagship reform drive, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday a Senate health care bill would cut the deficit by 118 billion dollars.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he is leaving it up to his caucus to decide whether to wrap a health care overhaul and a student loan bill into a single budget reconciliation package.

House Democratic leaders worked Thursday to assuage the concerns of nervous rank-and-file members while they awaited final budget numbers for their planned revisions to a Senate-passed health care overhaul.