Tag: Senate parliamentarian

Parliamentarian guidance deals blow to reconciliation strategy

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Senate rules referee says use of special procedure to pass multiple filibuster-proof bills should be reserved for ‘extraordinary circumstances’

Using a revised budget resolution to take an extra crack at reconciliation to advance Democratic priorities through the Senate appears unlikely during this Congress, given a new opinion from the Senate parliamentarian.

The new guidance, issued to Senate staff on Friday, suggests that Democrats will get just one more try this year to pass a filibuster-proof legislative package to enact additional priorities ranging from infrastructure to immigration policy proposed by President Joe Biden and party leaders on Capitol Hill. If they want to use reconciliation yet again, they’d need to adopt a fiscal 2023 budget resolution next year, but would likely get only one shot then as well.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s four-page opinion makes clear her view that the framers of the 1974 law establishing the modern budget process didn’t intend for lawmakers to be able to use the budget reconciliation process as many times as they could jam into a given year. Continue reading.

Senators in the dark on parliamentarian’s decision

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A parliamentarian ruling touted as a breakthrough for the Democratic agenda is putting the Senate in uncharted territory and sparking confusion.

More than a week after Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough signaled that Democrats could have more than just two shots this year at using budget rules to bypass the 60-vote filibuster legislation normally must clear to become law, senators say they are largely in the dark about its ramifications. 

Democrats say they haven’t seen the formal guidance, don’t totally understand the mechanics and that it hasn’t really been discussed by members beyond a surface level.  Continue reading.

Senate parliamentarian rules $15 minimum wage cannot be included in relief package

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The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that the provision to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour cannot be included in the broader $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. 

Why it matters: It’s now very likely that any increase in the minimum wage will need bipartisan support, as the provision cannot be passed with the simple Senate majority that Democrats are aiming to use for President Biden’s rescue bill.

Between the lines: The process, called “reconciliation,” allows any bill in which each provision affects the federal government’s finances to be voted on by a 51-vote majority, as opposed to the regular 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Continue reading.