Byrd nerds: Why the byzantine process of budget reconciliation exists and how it actually works
The Conversation with Dasha Burns
POLITICO
4.0 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | On our last episode, we brought you a conversation with two Republican congressional budget experts. |
| 0:06.8 | They walked us through the final hurdles that the Inflation Reduction Act would need to |
| 0:10.7 | clear in order to pass the Senate. |
| 0:15.4 | Democrats in Congress used the process known as budget reconciliation. |
| 0:20.3 | The upside, no filibuster is allowed. |
| 0:22.9 | You only need a majority to approve a reconciliation bill. |
| 0:26.8 | On the downside, there are strict rules about what can be included. |
| 0:32.9 | Our two budget nerds previewed the final challenges that the bill would likely face from Republicans. |
| 0:39.1 | They mailed one of the parliamentarians' rulings. |
| 0:42.7 | She nixed a portion of the bill that would have applied inflation caps to the private |
| 0:47.6 | pharmaceutical market. |
| 0:49.6 | But everything else in the Democratic bill survived the parliamentarians' review. |
| 0:54.1 | After some last minute tax changes to appease Senator Kiersten Sinema, the Inflation Reduction |
| 0:59.0 | Act passed the Senate 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. |
| 1:07.2 | The House is taking up the bill today, Friday, and it will likely be on Joe Biden's desk |
| 1:12.1 | this weekend. |
| 1:13.1 | We're off this week, but our wonky breakdown of the reconciliation process proved to be |
| 1:18.4 | a surprise hit with listeners. |
| 1:20.8 | So we went back into the editing room and made this director's cut of our nearly three-hour |
| 1:25.0 | conversation with Eric Uland and Greg D'Angelo. |
| 1:29.5 | Instead of focusing on the last minute maneuvering before the parliamentarian, they step back |
| 1:34.3 | and explain the long history of reconciliation and how it has come to dominate lawmaking |
... |
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