North Korea hearing falls prey to US health fight

The US Senate fight over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul claimed a foreign policy casualty Wednesday, with Republican tactics forcing the cancellation of a hearing on North Korea.

The Senate Armed Services Committee had been scheduled to question senior US military officials -- including the commander of the combined US-UN command in South Korea, General Walter Sharp -- at 2:30 pm.

But the session was cancelled when Republicans blocked a routine waiver of an arcane Senate rule that does not allow committees to meet longer than two hours after the Senate convenes, or after 2:00 pm.

Republicans made the move as they fought to force a series of politically painful votes on the Democratic majority, with the Senate set to vote this week on a set of fixes to the health overhaul Obama signed Tuesday.

The committee had also been set to question the head of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Robert Willard, and General Kevin Chilton, the head of the US Strategic Command that oversees US missile defense and nuclear deterrence.

The committee's chairman, Democratic Senator Carl Levin, had implored his colleagues to let the hearing occur, noting that the top Republican on the panel, Senator John McCain, supported his request.

"We have three commanders scheduled to testify this afternoon. They've been scheduled for a long time. they've come a long, long distance. One of the has come from Korea. One of them has come from Hawaii," said Levin.

Republicans objected, and under Senate rules even one senator can block such a waiver. Earlier, they had granted waivers to two Senate panels.

The hearing had been convened to discuss the annual spending needs for the US Pacific Command, US Strategic Command, and US forces in Korea, and was expected to discuss US efforts to restrain North Korea.

Democrats denounced the Republican tactic, with a spokesman for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accusing the minority of acting in "retaliation" for losing the fight over Obama's historic health care plan.

"These political games and obstruction have to stop -- the American people expect and deserve better," said the spokesman, Jim Manley.