Senate GOP embraces controversial tax cut strategy
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Senate Republicans are fully embracing the strategy of plowing ahead on President Trump's "one, big beautiful bill" by bypassing the parliamentarian on a crucial accounting matter.
Why it matters: Senate leadership and Trump want to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent without having to account for how much it would add to the deficit. Now, they're saying all they need is for Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to decide that's what they're going to do.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) backed the the argument, laid out by Graham, that Republicans don't need the Senate parliamentarian to bless the current policy approach during Tuesday's Senate GOP lunch.
- Graham is expected to release the language of the budget resolution as soon as Tuesday, according to GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
- Senate leadership wants to move forward with a vote on the resolution this week.
Between the lines: There already have been early conversations with the parliamentarian about the current policy baseline idea.
- Democrats have been pushing back hard against the idea in their meetings with the parliamentarian, and there had been expectation of a bipartisan meeting on the topic on Tuesday.
- Republicans are now saying they don't need her input at all.
What they're saying: "We think the law is very clear and ultimately the Budget Committee chairman makes that determination," Thune told reporters after the lunch.
- "It's not a ruling by the parliamentarian. The Budget Chair gets to decide which baseline to use," Barrasso said, echoing Thune.
- "The power resides in the chairman of the budget committee," said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) after the lunch. "That's precedent."
Zoom in: The parliamentarian will still be a crucial decision maker when it comes to the details of what gets put into the sweeping reconciliation package.
- The reconciliation process allows the Senate to get around the filibuster, but it can only be used for budget-related measures.
- The parliamentarian has long decided on what can be passed through that process. She notably ruled against Democrats' efforts to provide protection for DACA recipients and raise the federal minimum wage.
