How could the votes not be there? The Dems control 59% of both houses of Congress.
The same reason the votes weren’t there for Bush to open ANWR. Or for him to get Miguel Estrada confirmed. Or for him to get his original tax cut passed. Even though he had majorities in both houses. You need 60 votes in the Senate to get anything major done. He could have 300 seats in the House and 59 in the Senate and it wouldn’t matter.