Bankruptcy reform isn't officially dead in the Senate yet, but the post-mortem analysis has already begun.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said on Wednesday evening that the Obama administration was "ambivalent" about the bill's key provision and didn't make it as high a priority as credit card reform. The House-passed bill allows judges to renegotiate - or "cramdown" - mortgages for homeowners in bankruptcy.
"They could have done--there was always some ambivalence about this. I've sensed that as well. The president said he was for it and that's pretty good," said Dodd. He then qualified his statement: "The administration said they were for it. I wouldn't expect much more probably. Credit cards is a larger issue. It's a lot more pieces."
President Obama has made a push for credit card reform and met with leaders of the industry. He previously met with top bankers to discuss excessive bonuses. But the White House has been largely removed from the bankruptcy reform negotiations while the banking industry has lobbied furiously to kill it.
Obama's absence is no excuse for not passing it, said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon). "I think this is a job we need to get done in this building," he said, adding that he still is for the bill.
Dodd agreed. "I don't think it's necessarily dead yet," he said, saying he'll continue to push colleagues to support it.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said Dodd has "written a very good amendment. It's very narrowly drawn. I don't know how you make the case on the alternative."
Whatever the case, the banks have effectively made it to at least three conservative Democrats and, said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), all of the Republicans.
"I think we're pretty well locked down," said Martinez, predicting that no Republicans would back Durbin's bill.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican whose vote is sought after, told the Huffington Post not to count on it.
"I'll look at the final language, but I'd be surprised if it's something I can support," she said.
The vote is expected tomorrow.
Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America