Uses of budget reconciliation in Congress

• Budget reconciliation portal page
• Budget reconciliation process
  • How does the reconciliation process begin?
  • How often can reconciliation be used?
  • What role do different committees play in reconciliation?
  • What are reconciliation rules in the House?
  • What are reconciliation rules in the Senate?
  • What is the Byrd Rule?
  • What are vote-a-ramas?
  • What happens after floor debate?
• Historical reconciliation use
  • Overview of budget reconciliation use
  • Analysis of budget reconciliation bills since 2010
    • Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
    • Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
    • American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
    • Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
• The Byrd Rule
  • The Byrd Rule processes
  • The Byrd Rule in action (2010-2024)
  • Role of the Senate President (Vice President)
  • Role of the Senate Parliamentarian

The budget reconciliation process can be used to override the filibuster and expedite the approval of a package of legislation in Congress that changes spending, revenues, or the debt limit. Budget reconciliation bills require a simple majority (51 votes) instead of the three-fifths majority (60 votes) usually needed in the Senate to bring bills to a vote and approve them. Twenty-seven reconciliation bills have been passed by both chambers of Congress since 1985; 23 were signed into law, and four were vetoed by the president.

The provisions of reconciliation bills are crafted by committees or added through amendments. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the budget resolution limit the content of the reconciliation bill. Those limitations are enforced through the Byrd Rule.

Dive deeper:
This page features the following sections:

• Overview of budget reconciliation use
• Analysis of budget reconciliation bills since 2010
  • Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
  • Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018
  • American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
  • Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

History of budget reconciliation use

In total since 1985, Congress has passed 27 reconciliation bills. Twenty-three (23) of the bills were signed by the president and enacted. Four of the reconciliation bills passed both chambers of Congress but were vetoed by the President.

Since 1985, 83 points of order were raised against provisions of the 27 reconciliation bills that made it through both chambers of Congress, and 73 of them (88%) were sustained by the presiding officers, removing the provisions.

The following chart provides an overview of the uses of budget reconciliation since 2010 that passed both chambers, including vetoed bills.

Budget reconciliation bills since 2010 that passed both chambers
Bill name	Bill number	Action date	President	Presidential action	Federal trifecta status
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010	S.Con.Res. 13	March 30, 2010	Barack Obama (D)	Signed into law	Democratic
Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015	S.Con.Res. 11	January 8, 2016	Barack Obama (D)	Vetoed	Divided
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018	H.Con.Res. 71	December 22, 2017	Donald Trump (R)	Signed into law	Republican
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021	S.Con.Res. 5	March 11, 2021	Joe Biden (D)	Signed into law	Democratic
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022	S.Con.Res. 14	August 16, 2022	Joe Biden (D)	Signed into law	Democratic

Complete list of all reconciliation bills that passed both chambers of Congress 1981 - 2022

Analysis of budget reconciliation bills since 2010

Between 2010 and 2024, Democratic trifectas passed three budget reconciliation bills, Republican trifectas passed one, and one was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and vetoed by a Democratic president in a divided government.

Democrats used reconciliation to pass the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 -- including the final version of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) -- and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 -- including funding for environmental and climate, increased corporate taxes, and extended Medicaid expansion.

Republicans used reconciliation in 2018 to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including decreased individual income and corporate taxes and allowances for oil and gas drilling on certain federal land.

Democrats tried to enact gun control measures and increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour through reconciliation bills in 2015 and 2021, respectively, but Republican senators filed points of order against the amendments according to the Byrd Rule, and the provisions were removed.

Republicans proposed cutting certain Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits as part of a reconciliation bill in 2017, but Democrats filed points of order against the amendments according to the Byrd rule, and the provisions were removed.

Details on each of the five budget reconciliation bills that have passed both chambers of Congress since 2010 are below. Each section describes the reconciliation bill and includes examples of provisions and amendments that were challenged under the Byrd Rule—a process under which senators can file points of order to remove or block provisions from reconciliation bills.

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

Barack Obama (D) signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 into law on March 30, 2010. The bill contained two sections, one related to Medicare and Medicaid coverage and the other to education. It included the following provisions, among others:

• providing federal funding to states to cover newly eligible populations under Medicaid;
• extending Medicaid options for U.S. territories and increasing their funding caps;
• capping income-based student loan payments for new borrowers and providing loan forgiveness after 20 years; and
• increasing funding for institutions that served minorities, such as historically Black colleges and universities.

How was the Byrd rule applied?
Senators raised a point of order to remove two amendments relating to the Pell Grant program from the bill under the Byrd rule. No senators moved to waive the point of order, and the presiding officer sustained it, striking the amendments from the bill on the grounds that they produced no changes in outlays or revenues.

Opponents of the measures raised points of order against nine additional amendments to the bill. Senators moved to waive each of the points of order but each motion was defeated after not receiving a 60-vote majority; each motion to waive the point of order only received around 40 votes. The presiding officer sustained the points of order and struck the amendments from the bill on the grounds that they were outside the jurisdictions of the instructed committees.

Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015

Barack Obama (D) vetoed the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 on January 8, 2016. It included the following provisions, among others:

• amending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which invested in programs that aimed to improve health and reduce the growth of healthcare costs;
• suspending federal funding for Planned Parenthood for a year; and
• eliminating the penalty for individuals who do not maintain minimum essential health care coverage.

How was the Byrd rule applied?
Senators raised a point of order under the Byrd rule, challenging amendments related to the sunset risk corridors for plans in individual and small group markets program, established by Section 1342 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Senators moved to waive the point of order but received only 52 of the 60 votes necessary to dismiss it. The presiding officer sustained the point of order and struck the amendment from the bill on the grounds that the budgetary changes were merely incidental to non-budgetary components of the amendment.

Opponents successfully raised points of order to bar four additional amendments from consideration. For each of the four amendments, senators moved to waive the points of order but received only 55, 45, 53, and 48, respectively, of the 60 votes necessary to do so. The presiding officer sustained the points of order and struck the amendments from the bill on the grounds that they were outside of the committee's jurisdiction. They included amendments related to the following:

• the Protect America Act;
• permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists;
• increasing the availability of records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, addressing mental illness in the criminal justice system, and ending straw purchases and trafficking of illegal firearms; and
• ensuring that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and providing what the bill called a responsible and consistent background check process.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018

Donald Trump (R) signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 into law on December 22, 2017. Though referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018, the short title was struck as a point of order under the Byrd rule, and the reconciliation bill is formally titled "An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018." Provisions that became law in this bill include:

• reducing the corporate tax rate,
• increasing the standard tax deduction, and
• altering deduction for interest on home mortgages and equity.

How was the Byrd rule applied?
Senators raised a point of order against two of the bill's amendments under the Byrd rule in addition to the short title. The presiding officer struck the first amendment— related to 529 account funding for homeschooling expenses and criteria— on the grounds that it affected no change in outlays or revenue; senators moved to waive the point of order raised against the provision, but it gained only 51 of the 60 votes necessary to dismiss it. The presiding officer struck the second provision— related to an excise tax based on the investment income of private colleges and universities— from the bill because the amendment's budgetary changes were merely incidental to the non-budgetary components.

One other amendment under the Byrd rule brought a point of order against legislation that cut certain Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. Senators moved to waive the point of order but gained only 46 of the 60 votes necessary to dismiss it. The presiding officer sustained the point of order and struck the amendment from the bill on the grounds that it affected no change in outlays or revenues.

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

Joe Biden (D) signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law on March 11, 2021. It contained the following provisions, among others:

• spending approximately $160 billion on national vaccination programs and response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
• spending approximately $130 billion to safely reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• expanding childcare assistance and providing an additional tax credit for childcare costs.

How was the Byrd rule applied?
Four Senators raised points of order to bar the consideration of amendments that included the following:

• increasing the federal minimum wage and
• requiring that schools prohibit biological males from participating in athletic programs designated for women or girls as a condition of receiving federal Title II funds.

Though senators moved to waive the points of order, the motions to waive did not meet the 60-vote threshold required. The presiding officer sustained the points of order and struck the amendments from the bill on the grounds that the budgetary changes they affected were merely incidental to their non-budgetary components.

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Joe Biden (D) signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law on August 16, 2022. It included the following provisions:

• investing $369 billion in efforts to address energy security and climate change;
• extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and allowing Medicare to negotiate certain drug prices; and
• implementing a 15% corporate minimum tax, a 1% stock buyback fee, and enhanced Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement.

How was the Byrd rule applied?
Senators raised points of order to strike two amendments from the bill. Though senators moved to waive the point of order for the first provision, which was related to health insurance coverage of selected insulin products, they got only 57 of the 60 votes necessary to do so. No senators moved to waive the point of order challenging the second provision. The presiding officer sustained the points of order and struck both amendments from the bill on the grounds that the amendments' budgetary changes were merely incidental to their non-budgetary components and that they affected no change in outlays or revenues. The amendments were related to the following:

• health insurance coverage of selected insulin products; and
• policy statement related to tax increases on certain taxpayers;
• the short title of the bill; tax treatment of certain payments to farmers; and
• funding for certain activities under the Clean Air Act.

Opponents of four other amendments raised points of order to bar them from being considered in the bill. Senators moved to dismiss all four points of order but got only 1, 56, 49, and 5— respectively— of the 60 votes necessary to do so for any of the amendments. The presiding officer sustained the points of order and struck the amendments from the bill on the grounds that the provision's budgetary changes were merely incidental to its non-budgetary components, they were outside the committee's jurisdiction, and they affected no change in outlays or revenues, respectively. The amendments related to the following:

• establishing a cap on costs for covered prescription drugs under Medicare parts B and D;
• establishing a procedure for terminating a determination by the Surgeon General to suspend certain entries and imports from designated places;
• expediting consideration of permits and providing regulatory certainty for infrastructure and energy projects; and
• making health care coverage available to low-income adults in States that have not expanded Medicaid.

See also

Reconciliation process and details:

• Budget reconciliation in U.S. Congress
• Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress
• The Byrd Rule
• Senate Parliamentarian

Reconciliation origin, historical use, and analysis:

• Uses of budget reconciliation in Congress
• Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
• Vote-a-ramas in the U.S. Senate
• What happens during Donald Trump's presidential transition process, 2024-2025
• Donald Trump presidential transition, 2024-2025

External links

• Congressional Research Services, "The Budget Reconciliation Process: Timing of Legislative Action," accessed December 23, 2024
• Congressional Research Service, "The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate’s 'Byrd Rule.'"
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Introduction to Budget “Reconciliation”, May 6, 2022
• Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, "Reconciliation 101," November 18, 2024
• Brownstein, "Reconciliation 101 and What It Means for 2025," November 13, 2024
• The Center for Children & Families (CCF) at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, "The Budget Resolution and Reconciliation Process Explained," December 11, 2024
• Reuters, "Explainer: How Republicans plan to pass Trump's agenda through 'reconciliation'," December 16, 2024
• Tax Foundation, "Questions About Tax Cuts, Tariffs, and Reconciliation After the Election," November 13, 2024