House Dems demand Senate ignore parliamentarian and allow ‘pathway to citizenship’ under reconciliation rules

A group of House Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., penned a letter urging the Senate’s Democratic leadership to ignore the Senate Parliamentarian ruling that a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants cannot be included in a budget reconciliation bill.

“We do understand that the Senate Parliamentarian has issued a memorandum dismissing — despite evidence to the contrary — the budgetary impact of providing a pathway to citizenship,” the read the letter, which was dated Monday and signed by Ocasio-Cortez and 89 House Democrats, reads. “But the role of the Parliamentarian is an advisory one, and the Parliamentarian’s opinion is not binding.”

President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, a $2 trillion social spending bill that passed the House last week, includes a provision that would provide a pathway to citizenship to many illegal immigrants by granting them a five-year parole status.

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But the provision faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where the Senate Parliamentarian ruled in September that its inclusion does not follow budget reconciliation rules, which state that only policies that directly change federal spending and revenue can be included in the bills.

U.S. President Joe Biden announces the nomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
(REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Democrats have been forced to use budget reconciliation in an attempt to pass Biden’s massive spending plan in the Senate, where the party does not have enough votes to overcome a filibuster that would doom traditional legislation. Under reconciliation, a bill needs only a majority instead of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. 

But strict Senate rules about how budget reconciliation can be used limit what…