The House of Representatives this week passed a budget resolution with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and extensions and roughly $2 trillion in spending cuts, paving the way for the “budget reconciliation” process to move forward.
Passage of the budget resolution is a procedural step to outline the priorities Republicans want to include in the final bill. The “budget reconciliation” process has strict rules that anything included in the bill must have a primary impact on spending and not just any policy provision can be included.
The process allows for passage of a bill along a simple majority, meaning Republicans could pass the final bill with a simple majority in the House and just 50 votes in the Senate.
The budget resolution passed by a 217-215 vote, with one Republican and all Democrats voting no.
This is just the beginning of the reconciliation process, with both the House and Senate now having passed budget blueprints and will begin work on reconciling differences and working toward a final bill that accomplishes the administration’s priorities on taxes, border security, energy, cutting spending, and other areas.
