Democrats and Republicans are both making their case on Wednesday for what should be included in the latest spending bill with regards to immigration reforms. The meeting with parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is a crucial one for determining Democrats’ final social and climate spending bill. Both sides will make their case as to why, or in the GOP case, why not the immigration reforms comply with strict budget rules that govern what can be included in the bill.
The meeting will include staff from the Judiciary and Budget committees and leadership, however, there’s no guarantee that she’ll make a decision by the end of the day or even this week. Democrats are trying to use the budget reconciliation process to pass their spending bill without needing GOP votes, and this makes them adhere to strict budget rules on what can be included. The most-well known requirement is that Democrats need to convince MacDonough that any policy included in the bill has an impact on federal spending and revenues and that its impact isn’t “merely incidental” to its non-budgetary goals. Democrats are trying to get MacDonough to sign off on immigration reforms that include providing 6.5 million foreign nationals a temporary parole status that would give them five-year work and travel permits, which was included in the bill passed by the House. MacDonough has previously nixed two immigration plans that would have created a pathway to citizenship, finding that it was “not appropriate” for reconciliation.
