Reconciliation Debate

FLOOR UPDATE: This week, the Senate will consider S. 5, the Laken Riley Act, which would mandate detention for illegal aliens arrested for burglary and theft. Thanks to everyone who contacted their senators, the Senate voted 84-9 on Friday to proceed to debate the bill. While we don’t know how Democrats will vote on the bill itself, their support on this procedural vote is a good sign.

Reconciliation Debate

The big debate among Republicans on Capitol Hill is over the “reconciliation process,” which allows the Senate to bypass the filibuster and pass legislation with 51 votes. Republicans can use the process only two times, and the policies included must impact the budget to avoid violating the Senate’s “Byrd Rule.”

Why does this debate matter? After all, most conservatives just want results and don’t care about the process. It matters because the process will likely determine success or failure … and failure is not an option.

Here’s the debate in a nutshell:

The House wants to put everything into one giant bill that won’t be passed until August or later. The Senate wants to do two bills, with one being passed in March and the second being passed in August.

• The House argues that it needs everything in one bill to sweeten it so blue-state Republicans can swallow the more difficult tax provisions. They believe that if the bill is divided into two parts, the second one will not pass.

• The Senate argues that combining everything into one bill will take too long and ultimately doom the entire package. Senators believe we can quickly win a bill that secures the border, rebuilds the military, and unleashes American energy. Then, we will have the time to work out the more complicated tax provisions so they can be passed in a second bill later in the year.

Good arguments are made on both sides of this debate, but we hope they go with the two-bill strategy. Getting early wins is important to saving our country and building momentum for future victories.

Whatever strategy is ultimately adopted, Senate Conservatives will be on the front lines of fighting to get these important measures to President Trump’s desk.

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