President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill has been dealt a series of policy blows, but not at the hands of Democrats or internal Republican disagreements.
Rather, the Senate parliamentarian, an appointee reviewing the megabill as a nonpartisan arbiter, has determined that dozens of provisions are noncompliant with the Byrd Rule, which applies to reconciliation and requires that all language in the measure have a direct fiscal effect. The Byrd Rule is a legislative process that allows the majority to skirt the filibuster for budgetary legislation, which Senate Republicans are seeking to advance Trump’s domestic agenda on energy, taxes, and the border.
Recommended Stories
- Trump administration takes key step to consider crypto holdings as collateral for mortgages
- New bill aims to allow states to return unused grant money amid battle to decrease federal debt
- Democrats are delusional if they think Mamdani provides road map back to power
Policies that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rules against can either be amended to comply or would require 60 votes to be included, a threshold Republicans would undoubtedly be unable to muster with a three-vote majority and against unified Democratic opposition.
The full bill is still under review, with Senate Republicans hoping to pass their iteration in the coming days and have it clear the GOP House for final passage by July 4.
Some of the most consequential rulings made by MacDonough thus far include policies on Medicaid funding and eligibility, abortion funding, food stamp cuts, immigration enforcement, and clean energy tax credits.
Here are other provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that have been ruled noncompliant under the Byrd Rule.