House Bucks Bush on Stem-Cell Bill. This House vote already puts Mr. Bush in a predicament.

The House passed a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, defying a veto threat from President Bush. The vote, 238 to 194 with 50 Republicans in favor, fell far short of the two-thirds majority required to overturn a presidential veto, setting up a possible showdown between Congress and Mr. Bush, who has never exercised his veto power.

The House vote already puts Mr. Bush in a predicament, the Los Angeles Times says. Social conservatives who are a core part of the Republican base object to the research because it destroys human embryos. But a veto might have wider repercussions at the polls. Many patient groups and scientists say that the research has the potential to cure diseases, and a recent poll found that 60% of Americans find it morally acceptable.

(5-25-05 Wall Street Journal Online; for 5-25-05 article on this, see New York Times.)