Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled in an opinion to allow the Democrats in the evenly-split 50-50 Senate to use the reconciliation process again in fiscal year 2021, a spokesman for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday.
The ruling potentially allows Democrats to pass President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, dubbed the “America Jobs Plan,” via the reconciliation process—a procedural tool that allows a bill related to taxes, spending, and debt to be passed in the chamber by a simple 51-vote majority rather than having to pass the 60 vote filibuster threshold that would require support from 10 Republicans. The process also limits debate on the bill to 20 hours.
