WASHINGTON—After many delays, the House Republican Conference will release a plan for enacting the campaign promises of President Donald Trump on Feb. 11, according to remarks by their leadership that morning.
The Republican Party has a majority in both houses of Congress, though it cannot pass partisan legislation using normal proceedings because of the Senate’s “cloture” requirement—which requires 60 senators to vote to limit debate on a measure, or else it is filibustered. With Republicans only holding 53 seats in the Senate, they do not have enough votes to invoke cloture, and 7 Democrats are unlikely to support them.
Hence, the party is relying on a restrictive process known as “budget reconciliation,” where the cloture requirement is averted, to pass legislation that would fulfill several campaign promises made by Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 election, such as increasing funds for border security and extending provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The reconciliation process does not allow for non-fiscal policy changes—provisions must be germane to taxation, spending, and public borrowing—and their effect can only last up to 10 years….