What is reconciliation, the tool Republicans want to use to ‘push the outer limits’ on federal policy?

Republicans are already making big plans for the 119th Congress, many of which center on using a legislative maneuver called reconciliation. 

GOP leaders have suggested they are planning a mammoth-sized bill to implement President-elect Trump’s tax policies, lower the federal deficit and enact conservative policies early next year.

Reconciliation is a way to fast-track legislation on issues like taxes, the debt limit and federal spending by bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for passage, instead lowering it to a simple 51-vote majority.

Republicans also accuse Democrats of pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable in a reconciliation bill, and have signaled they may take a similar path in pushing for stricter border security measures while loosening restrictions on American energy production.

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Congress is set to grapple with a large fiscal policy bill next year. (Getty Images)

“Though there are Senate rules limiting what we can fit in budget reconciliation, I want us to be bold and creative so we can include as many reforms in this package as possible,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., wrote to House Republicans earlier this month.

“Democrats expanded what is traditionally allowed in reconciliation, and we intend to do the same. Now is the time to go big to advance conservative policies that will make our country prosperous and secure again.”

Generally, reconciliation is only used once per year, and lawmakers usually reserve it for instances where they hold both houses of Congress. 

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In recent history, most reconciliation bills have been started in the House of Representatives, where the Constitution dictates tax policy must originate. 

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, whose committee will be at the forefront of crafting the reconciliation bill, told Fox News Digital he is already working with House GOP leaders and his Senate counterparts on the legislation.

“We’re going to push the outer limits to include as much pro-growth strategy as we can. One of those would be regulatory reform,” Arrington said. “Another one will be border security and immigration reform.”

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington’s panel will be at the forefront of reconciliation bill talks. (Getty Images)

The third goal Arrington raised was “to unravel the chokehold on domestic energy production.”

“We have H.R. 2, and then we have H.R. 1, the two big legislative priorities for our conference – secure the border and unleash American energy,” he said.

“I think the things in there that can be included in reconciliation and pass the Byrd rule. We’re going to be aggressively advancing those policies.”

The “Byrd rule” refers to the Senate parliamentarian weighing a reconciliation bill for what measures are relevant to budgetary and tax policy, and what must be removed.

Democrats wanted to use reconciliation in 2021 to pass progressive immigration policies that would have included granting citizenship to millions of people, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also signaled big plans for reconciliation. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

They also attempted to include a federal $15 minimum wage in a reconciliation bill – a charge led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

But the parliamentarian ruled against both of those proposals.

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It remains to be seen what Republicans will be able to include in their bill next year.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of restoration to do on the fiscal side,” Arrington said. “It’s part pro-growth strategies, and the other is part bending the curve on spending, and especially focused on mandatory spending. And I think there are a lot of straightforward ways to do it, common sense things that the American people from both sides of the political aisle will say are long overdue.”