The amendment offered during consideration of the debt limit increase legislation (H.J. Res. 45) needed 60 votes to pass and only received 53—37 Democrats and 16 Republicans. Although Conrad expected the amendment to fail, he still feels Congress needs to tackle the deficit problem and has called for a special process to ensure that a commission-like approach is adopted. However, opponents have argued the panel creation would infringe on normal congressional procedures.  

Had the amendment passed, the commission would have studied and made recommendations for dealing with the U.S. deficit, and focus on the tax code and entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The commission would draft their set of recommendations by the end of the year which would then be sent to Congress sometime after the November elections. At that time, the recommendations would receive "fast track" consideration on each of the chamber’s floor. A final vote would be held before the adjournment of the 111th Congress in December, with three-fifths majorities required for passage in each chamber.  

Now that the agreement has failed, Democratic leaders and the White House are working on a back-up proposal in which President Barack Obama will create a similar commission by executive order. Some have indicated that if the executive order route is taken, Obama could unveil it during his State of the Union address on Jan. 27, as deficit reduction is expected at the forefront of his speech.