With the election of Scott Brown in yesterday’s special election in Massachusetts, the Republicans have 41 votes in the Senate, enough to block healthcare reform and any other legislation initiative they oppose.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote, “While not likely, it is still possible that the whole healthcare reform effort could collapse.” Today a collapse is looking much more likely. I had assumed that, in the event of a victory by Mr. Brown, the House would move quickly to vote on the Senate version of the healthcare reform bill. Judging by today’s news reports, it appears that the House has no immediate intention to vote on the Senate’s version of the bill, partly because many House Democrats object to specific provisions of the Senate bill, and partly because some House Democrats now seem to fear the political consequences of pushing forward on the bill.

But what alternative do they have? There is some talk of trying to start over and pass much more limited reforms that would have the support of at least some Senate Republicans. Given that, even after dropping the “public option,” the Democrats were unable to get any Republican support for their bill in the Senate, it is not clear how realistic an alternative that would be.

At least some House Democrats appear willing to walk away from healthcare reform. Unless President Obama and Speaker Pelosi can herd these cats toward the effort to pass legislation, the opportunity will, once again, slip away.