Budget Reconciliation - What Is It

BREAKING: Republicans in the Senate (and only Republicans) just approved a budget that envisions a grotesque future—trillions of dollars in tax giveaways to the ultra wealthy, funded by cutting trillions from Medicaid, Medicare, and other vital programs for the poor and middle class.^1,2 

This vote is the starting gun for what might be the most consequential legislative fight of the Trump era: the looting of the U.S. treasury to reward billionaire GOP donors and mega-corporations, at the expense of the rest of us.

If Republicans succeed, their backers will reward them with boatloads of campaign cash—fueling their efforts to hold power in 2018 and 2020. If they fail, they'll turn on each other—opening the door toward a potential Democratic landslide. And beyond the political stakes, the human impact is vast: the acceleration of plutocracy in America and the shredding of the basic protections that tens of millions of American families depend on.

Here's how this fight will go down:

Tonight's vote was on a budget resolution. Budget resolutions are nonbinding—they don't become law. Instead, they are moral documents—statements of priorities that shape future legislation. They have one critical function: You need to pass a budget resolution to open the door to a budget reconciliation bill, which is the only kind of tax cut bill that can't be filibustered, so it would need only 51 votes. And one of those 51 votes could be Vice President Mike Pence.

In other words, with this budget resolution in place, the GOP can shoot for a tax bill without a single Democratic vote. To defeat it, we'll need unified Democratic opposition, plus three Republicans in the Senate or 24 in the House. It's the same math that we faced with health care repeal. But winning this one will be even harder.

After the House and Senate iron out the differences between their budget resolutions (likely before Halloween), we'll enter the second stage of the battle: the fight over the tax scheme in the House.

Amidst the constant barrage of other news, the tax fight has been relatively low-profile so far. It'll probably stay that way until some time in early November, when the curtain is pulled back and the House GOP tax bill is revealed.

The public's reaction at that moment will be critical. Donanld Trump and his Republican pals will be in turbo spin mode, lying about who would benefit. (If you think that Trump has told some wild lies so far, wait until he has the chance to lie about money and a bill that would make him richer.) We can't let them get away with this. If enough of us raise our voices, together—with phone calls, protests, social media posts, letters to the editor—we can break through and make sure that the public learns what's really in the GOP bill and how it will tear at communities and hurt families around the country.