Thread by @ChadPergram

1) Just like in sports, it helps to know the rules in politics and parliamentary procedure. Senate Democrats toying with the idea of sidestepping regular Senate rules again and using the special budget reconciliation process to potentially pass additional big agenda items.

2) Budget reconciliation is a process where the Senate can skirt a filibuster and pass a bill with a simple majority. To qualify for reconciliation, the bill must be fiscal in nature and can’t contribute to the deficit over a prolonged period.

3) The Senate’s custom of “unlimited debate” doesn’t apply. You don’t need 60 votes to turn off a filibuster – potentially twice on any piece of legislation.

4) Democrats used the budget reconciliation process to approve the $1.9 trillion COVID package over the winter. They intend to use reconciliation for a $3 trillion infrastructure package later this spring. It’s unclear exactly how Democrats will design the infrastructure measure.

5) But during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki intimated that Democrats may attempt to creatively use Senate rules to pass their infrastructure plan.

6) "Two separate proposals,” said Psaki when asked by Chris Wallace about the makeup of the infrastructure plan. “We’ll work with the Senate and the House to see how it should move forward.”

7) Democrats don’t have the votes to forever alter the Senate filibuster. And they’ve already incinerated one budget reconciliation package for the COVID relief measure. It’s generally understood that lawmakers have the opportunity to use reconciliation twice in a given Congress.

8) More on that in a moment. But now Democrats seem to be channeling their inner Sam Wyche and Billy Martin – perhaps leaning on reconciliation for a third time.

9) An aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the New York Democrat is mulling the idea of using reconciliation for “additional opportunities” in this Congress.

10) The Budget Act of 1974 governs the budget reconciliation process. A Schumer staffer notes there may be some wiggle room to use reconciliation multiple times – thus enabling the Senate to blow past any Republican desire to filibuster potential legislation.

11) Section 301 of the Budget Act says that a “concurrent resolution on the budget may…include reconciliation directives.”

12) Section 304 says that, before the end of a fiscal year “the two Houses may adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which revises or reaffirms the concurrent resolution on the budget for such fiscal year most recently agreed to.”

13) In other words, Democrats could revisit and amend either the budget reconciliation tool they used for COVID or the one they intend to craft for infrastructure.

Democrats appear stymied when it comes to killing the filibuster.

14) There’s concern that Republicans could use the filibuster against Democrats if they win back the majority. So Democrats are in a pickle trying to enact major parts of their agenda – yet hampered by the filibuster.

15) Let’s take a step back and explore the dynamics of “budget reconciliation.” It’s called “budget reconciliation” for a reason. It’s tied to the annual budget process.

16) Ostensibly, Congress may use budget reconciliation, and avoid a filibuster on a budget reconciliation, once per fiscal year. That’s because Congress is supposed to prepare a budget for each fiscal year.

17) Congress must first adopt a “budget” in order to have a budget reconciliation vehicle (a separate, parliamentary animal) available for legislation.

The budget reconciliation package rules are somewhat vague.

18) But Fox has been told for years that using two budget reconciliation measures close together isn’t a problem – so long as they don’t crash into one another. Congress would never want to have two reconciliation measures which were “hot” at the same time.

19) The other general framework is that lawmakers get two cracks at budget reconciliation in a given Congress. There are two fiscal years. That entails two budgets. And thus, two reconciliation packages.

20) Using budget reconciliation measures consecutively for legislation is not new. Republicans tried a similar ploy in 2017. They used an early budget reconciliation measure in the late winter, spring and summer to try to repeal and replace Obamacare.

21) That gambit ultimately failed. Republicans were onto tax reform that fall. The GOP deployed another budget reconciliation measure for that legislation.

22) The government was in the middle of a new fiscal year (the government’s fiscal year begins October 1) once Republicans tackled tax reform. But, Republicans already burned the earlier budget reconciliation measure when their health care measure bit the dust.

23) So, another budget reconciliation package was available to the GOP in calendar year 2017.

In present day, Democrats have already gotten one budget reconciliation package off the dock for COVID.

24) So, another budget reconciliation package should be available (if the House and Senate first adopt a budget) for infrastructure. Plus, the House and Senate are already working behind the scenes on spending measures for Fiscal Year ’22.

25) So, everything appears to meet the general standards necessary for budget reconciliation.

So one may ask, if Democrats are unable to permanently extinguish the filibuster on garden variety legislation, why not use budget reconciliation for everything?