I wonder if President Trump knows that Vice President JD Vance, not the parliamentarian, can decide whether a provision is eligible for budget reconciliation, and that it takes 60 votes to override his rulings.
(Kind of a moot point because you need 50+VP willing to support the underlying item in that scenario, a motion to strike the provision is always in order, and there arent 50 senators at this point willing to defy parliamentarian’s advice.)
In 2017, Ted Cruz pitched a plan to have VP Mike Pence rule that repealing the Affordable Care Act including its policy provisions qualified for reconciliation. He noted - accurately - that restrictions on insurance companies do affect billions in federal spending.
Rs rejected Cruz’s plan, telling me it was tantamount to nuking the filibuster, as almost any policy could be seen as impacting the budget in some indirect way.
If Cruz’s plan had succeeded, Democrats could have used the same maneuver to enact policies the parliamentarian would rule ineligible, like a minimum wage hike, the Dream Act, other immigration provisions, restoration of abortion rights after Roe nixed, gun restrictions, etc.
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