The New York Times reports a bipartisan Medicare deal “cobbled together” by none other than House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), “who rarely agree on anything,” has hit a surprising impediment: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).

Senate Democrats object “to abortion restrictions in the bill and limits to an extension of a health insurance program for children. They have begun to undermine what was poised to be a sweeping bipartisan solution to several policy problems that have long vexed Congress.”

“It is a role in which Mr. Reid is becoming increasingly comfortable as he exploits his leverage in the minority to thwart his political opponents, even if that means an unusual split with Ms. Pelosi.”