Reconciliation (United States Congress)
Budget reconciliation is a special parliamentary procedure of the United States Congress set up to expedite the passage of certain federal budget legislation in the Senate. The procedure overrides the Senate's filibuster rules, which may otherwise require a 60-vote supermajority for passage. Bills described as reconciliation bills can pass the Senate by a simple majority of 51 votes or 50 votes plus the vice president's as the tie-breaker. The reconciliation procedure also applies to the House of Representatives, but it has minor significance there, as the rules of the House of Representatives do not have a de facto supermajority requirement.[1] Because of greater polarization, gridlock, and filibustering in the Senate in recent years, budget reconciliation has come to play an important role in how the United States Congress legislates.[2]
Budget reconciliation bills can deal with spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit, and the Senate can pass one bill per year affecting each subject. Congress can thus pass a maximum of three reconciliation bills per year, though in practice it has often passed a single reconciliation bill affecting both spending and revenue.[3] Policy changes that are extraneous to the budget are limited by the "Byrd Rule", which also prohibits reconciliation bills from increasing the federal deficit after a ten-year period or making changes to Social Security.
In April 2021, the
The reconciliation process was created by the
Process
Reconciliation process
Reconciliation is an optional part of the annual congressional budgetary process.[6] Typically, the reconciliation process begins when the president submits a budget to Congress early in the calendar year. In response, each chamber of Congress begins a parallel budget process, starting in the Senate Budget Committee and the House Budget Committee.[7] Each budget committee proposes a budget resolution setting spending targets for the upcoming fiscal year; in order to begin the reconciliation process, each house of Congress must pass identical budget resolutions that contain reconciliation instructions.[8] Other committees then approve bills that meet the spending targets proposed by their respective budget committees, and these individual bills are consolidated into a single omnibus bill. Each house of Congress then begins consideration of their respective omnibus bills under their respective rules of debate.[7]
The reconciliation process has a relatively minor impact in the House of Representatives, but it has important implications in the Senate. In contrast to most other legislation, senators cannot use the filibuster to indefinitely prevent consideration of a reconciliation bill, because Senate debate over reconciliation bills is limited to twenty hours. Thus, reconciliation bills only require the support of a simple majority of the Senate for passage, rather than the 60-vote supermajority required to invoke cloture and defeat a filibuster.[a][10] Senators could theoretically prevent passage of a reconciliation bill by offering an unending series of amendments in a process colloquially known as a "vote-a-rama",[b] but, unlike the modern filibuster, senators introducing these amendments must stand up and verbally offer the amendments.[12]
Though the reconciliation process allows a bill to bypass the filibuster in the Senate, it does not affect other basic requirements for the passage of a bill, which are laid out in the Constitution's Presentment Clause. The House and Senate still must pass an identical bill and present that bill to the president. The president can sign the bill into law or veto it, and Congress can override the president's veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress.
Byrd Rule
The Byrd Rule, named for Senator Robert Byrd, was adopted in 1985 and amended in 1990.[13] The Byrd Rule defines a provision to be "extraneous"—and therefore ineligible for reconciliation—in six cases:[3]
- if it does not produce a change in outlays or revenues;
- if it produces an outlay increase or revenue decrease when the instructed committee is not in compliance with its instructions;
- if it is outside the jurisdiction of the committee that submitted the title or provision for inclusion in the reconciliation measure;
- if it produces a change in outlays or revenues which is merely incidental to the nonbudgetary components of the provision;
- if it would increase the deficit for a fiscal year beyond those covered by the reconciliation measure (usually a period of 10 years);[c] or
- if it recommends changes in Social Security.
The Byrd Rule does not prevent the inclusion of extraneous provisions, but relies on objecting senators to remove provisions by raising procedural objections.[15] Any senator may raise a procedural objection to a provision believed to be extraneous, which will then be ruled on by the presiding officer, customarily on the advice of the Senate parliamentarian: a vote of 60 senators is required to overturn their ruling. While the vice president (as president of the Senate) can overrule the parliamentarian, this has not been done since 1975.[16]
In 2001, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott fired Parliamentarian Robert Dove after bipartisan dissatisfaction with his rulings, and replaced him with the previous Democratic appointee, Alan Frumin.[17]
Other restrictions
Congress can pass up to three reconciliation bills per year, with each bill addressing the major topics of reconciliation: revenue, spending, and the federal debt limit. However, if Congress passes a reconciliation bill affecting more than one of those topics, it cannot pass another reconciliation bill later in the year affecting one of the topics addressed by the previous reconciliation bill.[3] In practice, reconciliation bills have usually been passed once per year at most.[18]
Other restrictions have also been applied to reconciliation. For example, from 2007 to 2011, Congress adopted a rule preventing reconciliation from being used to increase deficits.[19]
History
Origins
Because of growing concerns over deficits and presidential control of the budget process, many members of Congress sought to reform the congressional budgetary process in the early 1970s. Charles Schultze, a former Director of the Bureau of the Budget, suggested a new process in which Congress would exercise greater control of the budget process by setting overall spending targets. Schultze proposed that Congress create a new type of legislation, the "final budget reconciliation bill," to ensure that the various budget-related bills passed by each congressional committee collectively fell within the overall spending targets passed by Congress. Schultze's ideas were adopted by Congress with the passage of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which established the reconciliation process, the Congressional Budget Office, and standing budget committees in the House and Senate.[20] Under the original design of the Budget Act, reconciliation was expected to apply to revenue and spending within a single fiscal year.[21]
Although reconciliation was originally understood to be for the purpose of either reducing deficits or increasing surpluses, the language of the 1974 act refers only to "changes" in revenue and spending amounts, not specifically to increases or decreases. Former
Ronald Reagan
Reconciliation emerged as an important legislative tool during the Reagan administration. A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats used the reconciliation process to pass the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, which contained various spending cuts. In addition to bypassing the filibuster, the reconciliation process allowed Congress to pass these spending cuts through a budget resolution and a single reconciliation bill, rather than through the traditional method of passing several bills addressing each area of spending.[24] During the early 1980s, Congress passed reconciliation bills containing provisions that did not directly relate to the budget; for example, one reconciliation bill decreased the number of individuals on the Federal Communications Commission. In response, Senator Robert Byrd led passage of an amendment to strike "extraneous" amendments from reconciliation bills, and Congress permanently adopted the Byrd Rule in 1990.[25] The reconciliation process remained an important tool of congressional majorities even after the passage of the Byrd Rule.[19]
George H. W. Bush
During the presidency of George H. W. Bush, it was used to pass the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, which reduced federal spending and increased federal revenue.[26]
Bill Clinton
After taking office in 1993, Democratic President Bill Clinton won passage of his proposed budget, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 through reconciliation. In 1996, he signed another major reconciliation bill, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996.[19] In 1997, Congress passed the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, a reconciliation bill that reduced taxes and increased the federal budget deficit. The tax cut bill was paired with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which reduced spending, and the two bills were signed into law by President Clinton. In 1999, the Congress used reconciliation to pass the Taxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999, which represented the first time that the reconciliation process was used to increase deficits without a companion bill that reduced spending. It was vetoed by President Clinton. A similar situation happened in 2000, when the Senate again used reconciliation to pass the Marriage Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 2000, which was also vetoed by Clinton. At the time, the use of the reconciliation procedure to pass such bills was controversial.[27]
George W. Bush
Upon taking office in 2001, Republican President George W. Bush sought the passage of major tax cuts, but his party controlled only a narrow majority in the Senate. To avoid a filibuster, Bush and his congressional allies used reconciliation to pass the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, two major tax cut bills that reduced federal revenues.[28] To comply with the Byrd Rule, the tax cuts contained sunset provisions, meaning that, absent further legislation, tax rates would return to their pre-2001 levels in 2011.[29] Portions of the Bush tax cuts were made permanent through the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, though some of the tax cuts for high earners were not extended.[30]
Barack Obama
Democrats won control of the presidency and increased their control over Congress in the
Donald Trump
After gaining control of Congress and the presidency in the
Joe Biden
The
List of reconciliation bills
The following bills have been enacted into law using reconciliation:[46]
|
Since 1980, four reconciliation bills have passed Congress, but were vetoed by the president:[47]
|
See also
- Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
- Filibuster in the United States
- Nuclear option
Notes
- ^ Reconciliation is not the only legislative process not subject to a Senate filibuster, but other processes, such as trade promotion authority, only apply in narrow circumstances.[9]
- ^ The "Vote-a-Rama" does not conflict with the twenty hour limit on debate over reconciliation bills because that limit applies only to debate, and not to the process of voting on amendments.[11]
- ^ Currently, the Byrd Rule prevents an increase in the deficit beyond a ten-year "budget window." Some members of Congress have proposed extending the budget window to 20 or more years.[14]
- ^ Republican Scott Brown won a special election held to fill the vacancy caused by Kennedy's death.[31]
References
- ^ Davis, Jeff (January 19, 2010). "How Reconciliation Would Work". The New Republic. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- S2CID 245802229.
- ^ a b c Reich, David; Kogan, Richard (November 9, 2016) [2015]. "Introduction to Budget 'Reconciliation'". Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- ^ Senate Democrats can now pass more bills with 51 votes through budget reconciliation after parliamentarian ruling – Vox
- ^ "Democrats' reconciliation strategy dealt blow by Senate parliamentarian". Roll Call. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ Lynch (2016), p. 1
- ^ a b Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 30–32
- ^ Davis, Jeff (October 15, 2017). "The Rule That Broke the Senate". Politico. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Reynolds (2017), pp. 6–8
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), p. 25
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), p. 31
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 31–32
- ^ Heniff Jr., Bill (November 22, 2016). The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate's "Byrd Rule". Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Jagoda, Naomi (June 28, 2017). "Rift opens in GOP over budget strategy". The Hill. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), p. 38
- ^ Young, Jeffrey (February 17, 2010). "Healthcare reform and reconciliation a bad mix, ex-parliamentarian says". The Hill. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 30–31
- ^ a b c Matthews, Dylan (November 23, 2016). "Budget reconciliation, explained". Vox. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 3, 26–28
- ^ Meyers, Roy T.; Joyce, Philip G. (2005). "Congressional Budgeting at Age 30: Is It Worth Saving?" (PDF). Public Budgeting and Finance. Vol. 25. pp. 68–82.
- ^ Dove, Robert (panelist) (March 12, 2010), Use of Senate Filibuster (Video), Senate Public Affairs Event, Washington, Connecticut: C-SPAN, event occurs at 0:50:00–0:57:20, Sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute
- ^ Reynolds (2017), pp. 84–85
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 32–34
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 36–38
- ^ Lynch (2018), p. 7
- ^ Keith and Heniff Jr. (2005), pp. 17–18
- ^ Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 40–42
- ^ Heniff Jr. (2016), pp. 15–16
- ^ Reynolds (2017), pp. 125–126
- ^ a b Jacobi & Van Dam (2013), pp. 43–45
- ^ Heniff Jr. (2016), p. 18
- ^ "Analysis | The budget rule you've never heard of that ties Republicans' hands on Obamacare". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
- ^ "Congress Sends Obamacare Repeal to President for First Time". NBC News. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
- ^ Viebeck, Elise (September 20, 2017). "Why Senate Republicans are in such a rush this month on health care". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- ^ Reynolds, Molly E. (December 2, 2017). "Four lessons from the Senate tax bill". Brookings Institution. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Faler, Brian (December 20, 2017). "Senate passes tax bill, teeing up final House vote". Politico. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Wagner, John (December 22, 2017). "Trump signs sweeping tax bill into law". The Washington Post.
- ^ Everett, Burgess (April 17, 2018). "McConnell considering vote to make tax cuts permanent". Politico. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ "American Rescue Plan: Inside Biden's $1.9 Trillion Stimulus". SmartAsset. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Luhby, Tami; Lobosco, Katie (January 14, 2021). "Here's what's in Biden's $1.9 trillion economic rescue package". CNN. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Kapur, Sahil; Caldwell, Leigh Ann (February 25, 2021). "Senate ruling says Democrats can't put $15 minimum wage in Covid relief bill". NBC News. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law". www.cbsnews.com. March 12, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ Lynch (2018), pp. 2–3
- ^ Heniff Jr. (2016), p. 7
Works cited
- Heniff, Bill Jr. (2016). "The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate's "Byrd Rule"" (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
- Jacobi, Tonja; VanDam, Jeff (2013), "The Filibuster and Reconciliation: The Future of Majoritarian Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate", UC Davis Law Review, 47: 261, SSRN 2221712
- Keith, Robert, and Bill Henniff Jr. The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2005.
- Lynch, Megan S. The Budget Reconciliation Process: Timing of Legislative Action Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2016.
- Lynch, Megan S. (2018). Budget Reconciliation Measures Enacted Into Law: 1980-2017 (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
- Reynolds, Molly E. (2017). Exceptions to the Rule: The Politics of Filibuster Limitations in the U.S. Senate. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0815729969.
Further reading
- Blumenthal, Paul. "A Brief History of Senate Reconciliation Votes", Sunlight Foundation, March 3, 2010
- Dauster, Bill. "The Day the Senate Died: Budget Measure Weakens Minority." Roll Call, May 30, 1996, 5, reprinted in Congressional Record (June 12, 1996), vol. 142, S6135–36.
- Dauster, Bill. "The Monster That Ate the United States Senate." Public Budgeting and Finance, vol. 18, no. 2 (Summer 1998): 87–93.
- Government Printing Office, 1992.
- Lynch, Megan S. The Budget Reconciliation Process: Timing of Committee Responses to Reconciliation Directives Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2016.
- Norman J. Ornstein; Raffaela Wakeman; and Fogelson-Lubliner. "Reconciling With the Past", with chart. The New York Times, March 6, 2010.
- Reynolds, Molly E. (2017). Exceptions to the Rule: The Politics of Filibuster Limitations in the U.S. Senate. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0815729969.
- ISBN 0-394-55447-7