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Hello John,
A top priority for President Trump and Congress is to extend the Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act of 2017.
American families could face an average tax increase of $1,500 per year if
Congress does not extend the tax cuts, which are set to expire on December 31.
We don’t want that.
To extend the tax cuts, President Trump and Congress will use a procedure
known as “budget reconciliation.” When you hear President Trump talk about “one
big, beautiful bill” that would include most of his legislative wish list, he
is referring to reconciliation.
But what is reconciliation? And why is it so important to extend the tax cuts?
Since you’ll be hearing a lot about reconciliation in the coming year, I will
break it down for you … without getting too deep into the weeds. (If you like
the weeds,click here
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, but don’t say you weren’t warned!)
Simply put, reconciliation allows for expedited consideration in the House and
Senate of certain fiscal issues — taxes, spending, and the debt limit. In fact,
it’s what President Trump used to pass the tax cuts back in 2017, and it’s why
that bill had to have an expiration date.
The biggest upside to reconciliation? It’s not subject to a filibuster in the
Senate!
Under normal Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to break a filibuster and bring
a bill to the floor. And, with few exceptions, all Senate bills are
filibustered.
With reconciliation, however, it only takes a simple majority (51 votes) to
break a filibuster. If a Senate majority falls short of 60 — and Republicans
today have just 53 senators — reconciliation provides a way to pass bills
despite partisan gridlock.
In this case, reconciliation will limit the ability of Democrats to block the
tax cuts or demand other concessions in exchange for their support —no insider
dealmaking.
But with the narrow margins in Congress, getting a reconciliation bill across
the finish line will be a tall order. That means we’ll need all our activists
to keep the pressure on until the job is done!
Usually, that’s about as far as the discussion of reconciliation goes, but
there’s more to it than that.
Reconciliation comes with a set of rules that govern what Congress can put in
the bill. Reconciliation can only be used for legislation that changes
spending, revenues, or the debt limit, which means Congress cannot use
reconciliation to pass policy bills.
Policymaking provisions in reconciliation bills risk running afoul of the
Senate’s “Byrd Rule” — another term you will hear a lot this year. The Byrd
Rule allows any senator to block parts of reconciliation bills that don’t
change spending or revenue, known as “extraneous provisions.”
Let’s take it a little further: Take immigration. President Trump and
congressional Republicans want to use reconciliation to seek additional funding
for things like detention facilities, Border Patrol agents, building a border
wall, etc.
But if they try to make policy changes, such as changing the rules on asylum,
those would likely be subject to a challenge under the Byrd Rule as an
extraneous provision.
Another important feature? You only get one shot. The reconciliation process
begins with the House and Senate agreeing on a budget that lays out a general
outline of what they hope to achieve. Once a reconciliation bill on, say, taxes
is dealt with, Congress is prevented from doing another one on taxes unless it
passes another budget resolution and begins the process all over again.
That’s why it’s so important to get this right the first time — especially
when the majorities in the House and Senate are so slim. Delay is costly.
Reconciliation offers President Trump and congressional Republicans an
enormous opportunity. Let’s hope they take it!
With the right leaders in place, we have a real chance to extend these tax
cuts — but we need your voice to make it happen. Add your name to our petition
today and help stop the looming tax hike.
Sign the petition
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Best regards,
Joe Eule
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity believes freedom and opportunity are the keys to
unleashing prosperity for all. We are a community of millions of concerned
citizens advocating for solutions based on proven principles to tackle the
country's most critical challenges.
Americans for Prosperity
4201 Wilson Blvd, Suite 1000
Arlington, VA 22203
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