The House and Senate Budget Committees have each advanced out of committee fiscal year 2025 budget resolutions – and the House and Senate must ultimately adopt the same concurrent budget resolution to unlock the pathway for budget reconciliation. In a new primer, Director of Fiscal Policy Jordan Haring provides a refresher on how reconciliation works and examines its effectiveness as a legislative tool.

Key points:

• Reconciliation is a powerful legislative tool that policymakers can employ to make major changes to federal revenues and direct spending under expedited procedures.

• In the Senate, reconciliation legislation is privileged, meaning it requires only a simple majority to be brought to the Senate floor for consideration rather than the usual filibuster-proof (60 vote) majority.

• The reconciliation process faces several limitations: Congress must first adopt a budget resolution; reconciliation can only be invoked a limited number of times under a single budget resolution; and the “Byrd Rule” further limits the scope of reconciliation legislation to purely budget-related matters, among other restrictions.

Read the analysis