> Not as easy as you seem to think. Without digging into why a budget for the wall > would have violated the Byrd rules, 2017 and 2018 reconciliation bills were already > spoken for. > > "Reconciliation has not been used to enact or rescind “discretionary” spending, which > is spending controlled through the annual appropriations process. There’s nothing in > the Budget Act or other rules that prohibits providing new funding, or rescinding > existing funding, for discretionary programs through reconciliation. But the various > restrictions on reconciliation probably make the process impractical as a means of > enacting annual appropriations. > > Since the mid-1980s, Senate rules have prohibited including provisions in > reconciliation legislation that do not change the level of spending or revenues or > the debt limit. (See the “Byrd Rule” questions below for more.)" > > "Donald Trump > After gaining control of Congress and the presidency in the 2016 elections, > Republicans sought to partially repeal the ACA and pass a major tax cut bill in the > 115th United States Congress. As the party lacked a 60-vote super-majority in the > Senate, they sought to implement both policies through separate reconciliation bills, > with the healthcare bill passed using the reconciliation process for fiscal year 2017 > and the tax cut bill passed using the reconciliation process for fiscal year > 2018.[34] Republicans were unable to pass their healthcare bill, the American Health > Care Act of 2017, because three Senate Republicans and all Senate Democrats voted > against it, preventing the bill from gaining majority support in the Senate.[35] With > the defeat of their healthcare bill, congressional Republicans changed their focus to > a separate reconciliation bill that would cut taxes.[36] Both houses of Congress > passed a tax cut bill in late 2017, though the Byrd Rule required the stripping of > some provisions deemed extraneous.[37] After both houses of Congress passed an > identical tax cut bill, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into > law in December 2017.[38] Because of Byrd Rule restrictions, the individual tax cuts > contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will expire in 2026 barring further > legislative action.[39]
Since they only passed one of the two bills they targeted for reconciliation in FYs 17 and 18, could that not have passed a different bill? Or do Senate rules prohibit trying and failing to use reconciliation, then trying again?
Oh for Pete's sake.
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