With the U.S. House Budget Committee forwarding a reconciliation health care reform bill to the entire congressional chamber, one Obama Administration official says a final up-or-down vote is “only days away.”

By a vote of 21-16, with all 14 Republican members of the panel voting in opposition, the House committee advanced the legislation. Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas and Allen Boyd of Florida both voted against the bill, repeating their opposition of the House’s health reform bill passed last year.

In a statement, Edwards said he came to the decision after “listening to thousands of my constituents and carefully reviewing the legislation.”

Citing “huge federal deficits facing our nation” and the failure of the bill to have “a fiscal trigger in it to cut spending” for proposed new programs, Edwards said he could not vote in favor of the measure.

Kathleen Sebelius

Following the vote, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “Comprehensive health reform came one step closer to becoming a reality.

“After over a year of debate, the final package is only days away from getting the up-or-down vote Americans deserve,” she said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to finish the job and pass reform that will give Americans control over their health care choices.”

The House is expected to pass the Senate version’s of health reform, approved late last year, then approve the reconciliation bill – forwarded by the House Budget Committee – to make some amendments.

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could use a procedure known as a “self-executing rule,” according to media reports, where the Senate measure could pass without a formal vote. According to the Washington Post, the House would vote on a package of amendments to the Senate bill and then under that vote, passage would then “deem” the health care bill to be approved without a formal vote being taken.

Pelosi mentioned the tactic in a meeting with the press March 15 as one of three options she said she is considering for a House vote later this week.