Democrats are in jeopardy of not meeting their long-sought goal of getting a health care overhaul bill on President Barack Obama's desk by the end of the year.

Asked Tuesday if that goal was reachable, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said "We're not going to be bound by any time lines. We need to do the best job we can for the American people. We want quality legislation, and we're going to do that."

Reid has had trouble finding consensus among eight to 12 Senate Democratic moderates, centrists he badly needs to reach the 60-vote threshold required to overcome procedural hurdles.

It's expected the Senate will need at least a month to consider health care legislation, and with Veterans Day next Wednesday and Thanksgiving Nov. 26, time is running short.

Reid said he was undeterred. "We're going to do this legislation as expeditiously as we can, but we're going to do it as fairly as we can, also," he said.

The House of Representatives is expected to take up its version of the bill Friday,with a possible vote Saturday. Its measure would then have to be combined with whatever the Senate passes--a negotiation that could take some time--and the two Houses would then vote again.