Senate Democrats are looking to include immigration reform as part of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Despite their trying to squeeze in as much reckless liberal policy as possible, it appears they forgot the rules of reconciliation measures.
To review: Budget reconciliation allows Congress to avoid the 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority for most legislation needed to pass in the Senate. Such bills can only relate to spending, revenues (for example, taxation), deficits, or the debt ceiling. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that immigration measures would be eligible to be included.
On the other hand, infrastructure measures would make it in the bill since they require spending and taxes. Most people would foot the bill through increased taxes, as President Joe Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on families making more than $400,000 is a lie, as Brad Polumbo of the Foundation for Economic Education wrote last month.
Nonetheless, even if immigration measures don’t make it into the reconciliation bill, Senate Democrats will have made a point. Namely, that their policies are further to the left than ever before. Even, that is, as the national debt clocks in at more than $28 trillion and counting.
One can only hope that Democratic infighting between centrists, liberals, and progressives will cause the reconciliation bill not to pass, even if it includes measures eligible under reconciliation rules.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
