Democrats ’long-held hopes of providing a path to the legal status of millions of immigrants are now in the hands of a little-known figure: the Senate parliamentarian.
Democrats introduced Elizabeth MacDonough, a nonpartisan arbitrator, on Friday for her plan to provide permanent legal status, paving the way for a path to citizenship, for 8 million immigrants, including the Dreamers, holders of a protected temporary status, farmers and other essential workers.
After fighting for years to reach an agreement on immigration reform, and with President Biden
Kentucky State Lawmakers Vote to Reject School Mask Warrant Arkansas Governor Turns Back Against Biden Vaccine Warrant RNC vows to sue for Biden vaccine, proving warrant MOREThe sweeping comprehensive plan stalled on Capitol Hill, Democrats are willing to do it all on their own including their reduced plan at a $ 3.5 trillion social spending they hope to approve as soon as this month.
But first, they will have to convince MacDonough, a former immigration lawyer who has removed key priorities for both sides in budget reconciliation measures in recent years.
“You think about it all the time,” the senator said. Tim Kaine
Timothy (Tim) Michael Kaine Democrats look at September nightmare Lawmakers flooded with calls for help out of Afghanistan We must fulfill promise of public service loan forgiveness program and cancel loan debt student of educators MORE (D-Va.) He told The Hill he was trying to figure out what would happen to the MP.
Democratic staff from the Senate Judiciary and Budget Committees, as well as Senate leadership staff, met with MacDonough to argue that the immigration plan meets the arcane rules governing what can be included in the spending package.
Democrats use the process of budget conciliation to prevent the Republican Party from filibustering its measure in the Senate. The problem is that there are sharp limits to what can be included in these measures.
The best-known requirement Democrats will have to convince MacDonough is that the immigration plan has an impact on federal spending and revenue and that its impact is not “merely incidental” to its non-budget goals.
“We believe that this legislation can be passed through conciliation because the budgetary effects of the bill are a substantial, direct and expected result and the non-budgetary effects do not disproportionately exceed the budgetary effects to make them merely incidental,” he said. a Democratic aide.
Democrats say their plan would increase budget deficits by $ 139.6 billion over a ten-year period, according to initial estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
The Senate plan is narrower than Biden’s commitment to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants. But Democratic officials indicated that the four narrowest categories set them the strongest tone to incorporate immigration reform into the spending package and comply with budget rules.
They also stressed that the bill does not directly address the citizenry, noting that they see it as a bill that provides a way to obtain permanent legal status or a green card. Obtaining a permanent legal status allows a person, if he can meet a series of requirements, to finally apply for citizenship.
GOP staff also introduced MacDonough on Friday about why the Democratic plan does not meet the requirements for what can be included in the budget bill. For weeks they have been indicating that they will fight the Democrats ’plan to try to dodge them in immigration.
Her. John Cornyn
John Cornyn: Democrats to show way for citizens on spending bill Friday No major changes, more Americans could fall victim to online crime “New Normality” of half periods MORE (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary Committee, argued that the Democrats’ plan “will almost certainly not work, according to Senate rules.”
Cornyn also noted one of MacDonough’s predecessors, Alan Frumin, who warned that while changes in immigration are likely to affect the budget, it could be argued that these impacts are “merely incidental” to the plan’s larger goal. of immigration reform.
There is no guarantee that MacDonough will give the green light to the democratic plan. It has caused frustration on both sides of the aisle with recent decisions. In 2017, he abandoned a Senate plan to revoke and replace ObamaCare, and earlier this year warned Democrats that raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, a top priority for progressives, did not meet the rules for to budget conciliation.
If it decides against immigration reform, the provision could be removed from the bill unless Democrats can garner 60 votes, that is, the support of at least 10 Republican senators, to keep it in the bill. law.
MacDonough is a partial arbitrator, responsible for deciding what he meets the Senate budget rules and a Senate oracle, unrecognizable to journalists and largely leaving senators and staff to try to interpret how he relies on the questions he asks. .
“It varies from the oral argument to the oral argument if we get any comment. There have been, where we get a lot of questions and we can learn from this kind of thing how to see the Supreme Court when they have a lot of questions, ”said a second Democratic aide on the MacDonough launch.
Democrats hope to be able to incorporate immigration reform into the $ 3.5 trillion spending plan, which dates back to 2005, when a plan to address visa delays was included in a bill. of reconciliation.
Democrats and aligned outside groups have stepped up pressure to include immigration reform in the spending package.
The Senate previously approved a “comprehensive” immigration reform in 2013, but it hit a wall in the then-controlled House.
Since then, the discussion about immigration on Capitol Hill has been polarized withPresident Trump
Donald Trump The Memorandum: Biden Punched Out Against COVID-19 State Representative, Former Kansas, Accused of Fraud Over COKID-19 Money Relief Money Medicare Employers Alarm , but progressives continue with an irresponsible expansion of Medicare MORE demanding billions to build the US-Mexico border wall, supporting cuts to legal immigration and adopting a hard line of asylum. Bipartisan discussions under Biden have failed to make much progress.
Biden, who chaired the Judiciary Committee during his time in the Senate, has approved the inclusion of immigration in the reconciliation bill, but has hinted that “it remains to be seen” whether he is allowed to stay.
Asked by The Hill before the summer holidays when he would start worrying about the MP, the senator. Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin: Democrats will show the way to citizenship on Friday on the bill The former senator Adlai Stevenson III dies in the 90 Democrats looking at the nightmare of September MORE (D-Ill.), The chairman of the Judicial Committee, joked, “I’ve already begun.”
I Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiMerriam-Webster’s partisanship is shown, once again, with its latest definition: the GOP leader is leading the fight for a majority vote in the Supreme Court in a new poll that supports Manchin’s “pause” in the .5T MORE expense plan (D-California), during a recent virtual town hall, promised Democrats would “fight” for their immigration plan, but acknowledged that there are questions about what “will survive the parliamentarian in the Senate.”
“We are limited to what the parliamentarian will allow in the Senate,” he said, “and that is very unfortunate.”