Reconciliation

The House and Senate have passed the Budget Resolution, which is the ostensible blueprint for Federal spending beginning on October 1st, 2009.

In the House, 233 Democrats voted for the Resolution, while 20 Democrats did not follow their leadership. 176 Republicans voted against the Resolution, and not a single GOPer crossed over to be with the majority Democrats.

55 Senators supported the Resolution, again without the assistance of a single Republican. Two Democratic Senators, Evan Bayh (IN) and Ben Nelson (NEB), voted with 41 Republicans to reject the Resolution. Had Senator Byrd voted, he would undoubtedly have supported the Resolution, as would Al Franken had his election contest been over.

The President's Budget request was shaved in both Houses of Congress, but not in ways that anyone would consider significant.

Perhaps of greatest significance, the House budget includes healthcare as a potential reconciliation item. Boiled down, that means that the President's healthcare plan, as modified by the Congress, can pass the Senate with only 51 votes, rather than the 60 votes that would likely be necessary if the plan were to come to the Senate floor as a freestanding piece of legislation.

While the Senate version of the Budget Resolution does not include a reconciliation instruction, it is assumed that the final Resolution that comes out of a House/Senate conference after the recess will include healthcare as a potential reconciliation item.

On the other hand, no mega climate/energy legislation was included by either body in its Resolution. An attempt to include it in the Senate version failed by 61-37. The size of that vote also suggests that the mega climate/energy legislation that is anticipated by the Administration will not have a smooth path going forward as freestanding legislation.

While Republicans in both bodies have expressed great consternation at the idea of using reconciliation in this manner, this technique has been used to enact controversial legislation by Republicans and Democrats in the past.

For those who may have forgotten the history of reconciliation here is a short reminder.

Of course, in any of these efforts, proponents will need to deal with the Byrd Rule. [Further explanation will be attempted in a later edition.]

The reconciliation process came into being as part of the Budget Act of 1974. It was not until the 1980s that it became a regular part of the budget process.

The reconciliation process was used:

6 times during the last 5 years of Ronald Reagan’s term.

• Partisan split of Congress
• 1 Congress - Senate D/House D
• 5 Congresses - Senate R/House D

5 times during the 1st George Bush's term.

• Partisan split of Congress
• 2 Congresses - Senate R/House D
• 3 Congresses - Senate D/House D

7 times during Bill Clinton's term.

• Partisan split of Congress
• 1 Congress - Senate D/House D
• 6 Congresses - Senate R/House R
• Clinton vetoed 3 reconciliation bills

5 times during the 2nd George Bush's term.

• Partisan split of Congress
• 4 Congresses - Senate R/House R
• 1 Congress - Senate D/House R

Return to Home Page