Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders released the text of the fiscal year 2022 budget resolution, the first step for congressional Democrats to pursue a $3.5-trillion domestic spending bill using reconciliation. In a new insight, AAF Director of Fiscal Policy Gordon Gray provides an overview of the budget’s reconciliation instructions, as well as a brief primer on how reconciliation works.

Gray concludes:

Reconciliation is a powerful legislative tool that provides for expedited consideration of budget-related legislation in Congress. To employ this tool, Congress must first agree to a budget resolution with reconciliation instructions, which can only produce a maximum of three reconciliation bills. The Senate will likely pass a budget resolution this week, providing reconciliation instruction to multiple committees in each chamber and provide for expedited consideration of a reported $3.5 trillion spending bill over the likely objection of Senate Republicans.

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