Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Immigration Plans From $2T Biden Bill

On Thursday, Congressional Democrats admitted defeat as far as passing their $2T social spending and climate plan before the end of the year, after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) made clear that he wasn’t on board.

In addition to rejecting a one-year extension of the Child Tax Credit, Manchin pointed to the Senate parliamentarian’s ongoing cuts to the bill to ensure it complies with the reconciliation process – which Democrats will use to pass the package while avoiding a Republican filibuster.

“When the parliamentarian gets their work done we’ll see what they have,” said Manchin.

On Thursday night, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough handed Democrats their latest blow – cutting legislation which would temporarily shield illegal immigrants from deportation on the grounds that it doesn’t comply with the budget reconciliation requirements.

According to the Byrd Rule, “the Senate is prohibited from considering extraneous matter as part of a reconciliation bill,” which meant Democrats had to prove that the immigration matter was more than “merely incidental to the non-budgetary components of the provision.”

MacDonough met with staffers from both parties earlier this month, and has thus far rejected three Democrat measures including the immigration language.

Not ones to play the hand they’re dealt, more than two-dozen Democrats from the lower chamber sent an October letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) arguing that the Senate’s presiding officer has the authority to overrule the parliamentarian, according to the NY Post.

“This is a critical moment for our nation’s history, and we strongly urge the Presiding Officer to use their authority to disregard the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling,” they wrote.