Name: Stimulus bill drama: Budget reconciliation can fast-track the package, but has one huge limit
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Stimulus bill drama: Budget reconciliation can fast-track the package, but has one huge limit

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With control of the Senate -- just barely -- Democrats may need to use a special legislative process called budget reconciliation to push a big stimulus package through without bipartisan support. They'll have one shot.President Joe Biden has busily signed a slew of executive orders on his own, from to , which has let him initiate changes without Congressional approval. But in order to enact his to , inject money into the economy and boost vaccine distribution, Biden will need 60 votes in the Senate. That means 10 Republican votes in the evenly split Senate to approve a &nbsp;and then some.To get those votes, Biden and members of Congress could spend weeks negotiating the details of a package that would satisfy Democrats and win over enough Senate Republicans to pass the bill. But Biden has said repeatedly, both before and after becoming president, that getting more aid to the country can't wait. "We have to act. We have to act now," days after taking office. However, there is one tool that Democrats could use to bypass objections in both the Senate and House of Representatives:&nbsp;. Using it would make it possible to pass the stimulus bill in both the House and Senate with just a simple majority of votes. While the House has a larger Democratic majority, budget reconciliation could have a direct effect on the outcome of a Senate vote. Here's how.Budget reconciliation is a parliamentary tool Congress can use to speed the passage of . The reconciliation can start with the House and Senate budget committees, before the moves to a vote. The House is already&nbsp;&nbsp;and push through Biden's package without Republican support.In the Senate specifically, budget reconciliation needs a simple majority to pass instead of the normal 60 votes required for spending or revenue legislation. The bill also can't be tied up with a , where a senator can use a variety of delaying tactics to block or delay a bill.Because it can be used to pass fiscal legislation that may not have bipartisan support, the budget reconciliation process comes with strict limits, not only on how it can be used but on how often Congress can use it.&nbsp;First, it can be used just for legislation that changes federal spending, revenues and debt limits, like Biden's COVID-19 stimulus package. Something called the -- named after former West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd -- prevents items that don't fit into one of the three budget categories from being included.&nbsp;Second, the Senate can consider only one reconciliation per year for each of the budget categories: spending, revenue and debt. Because Congress didn't adopt a budget resolution in 2020 for the 2021 budget, this year's Congress to use the tool, once now and once again when it adopts a budget to find the government in the fall.Stimulus check No. 3: What you need to knowWith an evenly divided Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris -- serving as the president and presiding officer of the Senate -- can cast a tie-breaking vote if the Senate is at a standoff on a bill.By using the budget reconciliation process, Congressional Democrats would be able to push through the parts of that meet the requirements without Republican assistance, by having Harris break ties.Not everything Biden wants to accomplish would meet the requirements for reconciliation. Boosting the minimum wage to $15 may . Likewise, using the process to fund reopening schools may be .While Biden has said he wants to work with Congressional Republicans to reach bipartisan agreements on his legislative agenda -- and a group of 10 moderate Senate Republicans have proposed an alternative&nbsp;&nbsp;they say could win Republican support -- the President may decide the fastest path to approve for his plan is through budget reconciliation.Congress has successfully used the reconciliation process just 21 times since 1980, .The most recent use of the budget reconciliation process was, under former President Donald Trump, when Congress used the tool to pass the . During the presidency of Barack Obama, Congress used the process .For more on the next stimulus package, here's , what you need to know , and what is happening with .

With control of the Senate -- just barely -- Democrats may need to use a special legislative process called budget reconciliation to push a big stimulus package through without bipartisan support. They'll have one shot.President Joe Biden has busily signed a slew of executive orders on his own, from to , which has let him initiate changes without Congressional approval. But in order to enact his to , inject money into the economy and boost vaccine distribution, Biden will need 60 votes in the Senate. That means 10 Republican votes in the evenly split Senate to approve a &nbsp;and then...

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Clifford Colby

CNET, formerly Computer Network, is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. Founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition in 2008.

Stimulus bill drama: Budget reconciliation can fast-track the package, but has one huge limit

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