In a Sept. 13 interview, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) rejected the reconciliation process being used to advance Democrats’ expansive $3.5 trillion budget bill.
Under the budget reconciliation process, created in the 1970s, certain bills related to federal revenue and spending can be passed through the Senate with only a simple majority. This move allows these bills, whose contents must be approved by the Senate parliamentarian, to avoid death by filibuster in the Senate, giving the majority party the upper hand.
