In the Senate, Thune resurrects idea of reconciliation
... Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted, “It’s hard to imagine how the SAVE
America Act could be passed through reconciliation. And by ‘hard’ I mean
‘essentially impossible.’”
Lee, a member of the Budget Committee, has led the push for the
chamber to debate SAVE and even pursue a so-called talking filibuster to
pass the bill via a simple majority. ...
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that “I don’t see any way that any part
of the SAVE America Act [with] any teeth gets included in a
reconciliation package.”
“On top of that, I think it’s very difficult to pass a reconciliation
package. We don’t have big tax cuts coming. That’s really what got the
last one done,” Scott said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to
get you know 50 of us to agree on something.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who opposed last year’s reconciliation
measure, said, “It would seem on its face, because there’s so much
policy involved, that it would be difficult to do.”
“It’s kind of interesting to see if they’re just going to be pushing
maybe some of the funding that could fit within reconciliation. But I
don’t know how the policy fits in there.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has been part
of hashing out the agreement between Democrats and the White House to
reopen DHS, also declined to support reconciliation, saying “I don’t
think that’s a good approach.” ...
The chamber’s conservative House Freedom Caucus called the idea “gaslighting” from Senate Republican leadership. ...
