The parliamentarian rejected several provisions Thursday, including a key Medicaid section on provider taxes. Republicans are working to rewrite the provision to comply with the rules.
The bill carrying much of President Trump’s domestic agenda is facing examination by the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan official who enforces the chamber’s complex rules — and who can effectively strip out parts of the bill that don’t comply.
Republicans will be able to push the tax and entitlement package through with a simple Senate majority, avoiding a Democratic filibuster, as long as it complies with the “Byrd Rule,” which has governed the budget reconciliation process they are using since the 1980s. Under the rule, each of the bill’s provisions:
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Must produce a non-incidental change to the federal budget. In other words, it must primarily be a change to spending or revenue. Provisions with no or minimal budgetary impact, or that are mostly there for policy reasons, are supposed to be struck, but the decision can be subjective.
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May not increase the deficit outside of the budget window. In this case, provisions can’t add to deficits past 2034.
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May not make changes to Social Security.
The process of review is known informally in the Senate as the “Byrd bath.” So far, the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, has determined that dozens of provisions do not pass muster to be included in the megabill, in most cases because they represent policy changes with only incidental effects on the budget.
Republican committee leaders have said they plan to rewrite some of the struck provisions to make them compliant.
Rejected provisions
Most of the struck provisions would have had a small effect on the bill’s bottom line, but there are a handful that would have saved hundreds of billions of dollars as written. Some provisions were policy priorities for some Republicans, and their removal could make those lawmakers less enthusiastic about supporting the bill. What is likely to be the most consequential ruling, on whether Republicans may use a budget maneuver to exclude the cost of tax cut extensions, is still outstanding.
We’ve highlighted instances where Republicans have said they have made or are working on adjustments to the offending portions. Green highlights represent provisions that have been revised and approved….
The list IS extensive and there have been efforts at ‘walk around’s’ that would pass in a final bill……
Parliamentarian rejects GOP attempt to impose fees on asylum-seekers
The Senate parliamentarian on Friday ruled that a Republican attempt to charge migrants a $1,000 fee when applying for asylum violates the Senate’s Byrd Rule and cannot be included in the GOP megabill to enact President Trump’s legislative agenda.
The mandatory $1,000 fee for asylum applications is one of several immigration-related fees the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, rejected in her review of the massive budget reconciliation package set for a vote Saturday.
She ruled against a section of the bill to impose a $100 fee on migrants who request a continuance in immigration court and a provision to require the Department of Homeland Security to impose a $250 fee for applying to the diversity visa lottery and a $400 fee to process diversity visa applications.
MacDonough advised against language to require a $5,000 bond to sponsor an unaccompanied child who fails to appear in immigration court, a bond that would be returned if the child does not receive an in absentia removal order.
She also rejected language expanding expedited removal procedures for migrants who are arrested of crimes — removal procedures that were beefed up earlier this year when Congress signed and Trump signed the Laken Riley Act…..