The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Democrats can use budget reconciliation on two more pieces of legislation this fiscal year — clearing the way for President Biden’s two mammoth infrastructure bills to pass the upper chamber of Congress without GOP support.
The ruling could be a key for Biden and the Democrats to push through his $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, potentially without any Republican support.
In a statement from a spokesman for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top-ranking Senate Democrat’s office said that “no decisions have been made on a legislative path forward using Section 304,” while calling the parliamentarian’s ruling “an important step forward that this key pathway is available to Democrats if needed.”
Aides to Schumer argued to the parliamentarian last month that they could use Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to pass another bill through budget reconciliation, the method by which Democrats approved Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
Republicans in the chamber have yet to respond to the parliamentarian’s opinion.
Budget reconciliation allows the majority party to bypass the legislative filibuster, the Senate rule requiring 60 members to end debate on most topics and move forward to a vote.
The current 50-50 split leaves Democrats in need of 10 Republicans to pass major legislation, which they don’t appear to have on any of the House-approved bills yet.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hold up President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package after the House voted to approve the bill outside the US Capitol on March 10. EPA/JIM LO SCALZOWhile Vice President Kamala Harris has a tie-breaking vote, 51 votes are not enough under current rules to break through the filibuster.
With this favorable ruling, Schumer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is responsible for ensuring the party has the necessary votes, only need to woo a small number of moderate Democrats expressing wariness about raising tax rates.
Those lawmakers include Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
Manchin said Monday he doesn’t support all of Biden’s tax ideas, and could pose a stumbling block to the Biden plan.
The Democrat, one of the most influential senators as a moderate in a tightly divided body, said the top corporate tax rate shouldn’t surpass 25 percent.
“If I don’t vote to get on it, it’s not going anywhere,” Manchin said.
Still, Manchin opted to eventually support the president’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, and is almost certainly open to hearing the Biden administration’s best attempts to court him.
With Manchin on board, only Vice President Harris’ vote will be needed to push Democrats over the edge.
In recent months, Democrats have faced growing pressure from inside the party to abolish the filibuster in order to push the party’s more ambitious legislative efforts through the Senate.
Democratic leaders, including Schumer, Biden, Harris and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), all came out in favor of filibuster “reform” last month as pressure mounted.
The two-part “Build Back Better” proposal, a centerpiece of Biden’s post-COVID campaign message, will be split into two packages for Congress to pass.
The first focuses on infrastructure, while the second will be aimed at funding Democrats’ domestic policy platform.
If Schumer opted to not use his third available reconciliation for the second half of Biden’s infrastructure package, he could instead pass the fiscal 2022 budget resolution, though that seems unlikely.
Democrats could also use reconciliation for other party priorities that have languished in a GOP-led Senate, such as the proposal from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to lower the Medicare qualifying age to 55 or 60.
Democratic leaders, including Schumer, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, all came out in favor of filibuster “reform” last month as pressure mounted. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty ImagesSpeaking to MSNBC Monday evening, Sanders celebrated the parliamentarian’s ruling, calling it “important because it gives us a little more flexibility.”
“Right now, what this new reconciliation package is about is dealing with long-term structural problems. Everybody knows our physical infrastructure is collapsing. We know we can create millions of jobs, transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel,” the progressive pol said.
“But also, we have got to deal with human infrastructure,” he continued.
What won’t be able to be addressed by Democrats through this ruling, however, are issues that aren’t budget-related, such as gun control and voting rights legislation.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the decision.







