Senate parliamentarian rules against including immigration measure in budget bill
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Sunday that it is "not appropriate" for Democrats to include an immigration reform effort in their budget bill.
Democrats had been wanting to include a pathway to citizenship for 8 million people in a reconciliation bill, which only needs a simple majority to pass the Senate; they argued that making millions of people citizens would have a major, positive impact on the economy. The Senate parliamentarian is nonpartisan and rules on technical issues, and MacDonough wrote that she found such a "tremendous and enduring policy change ... dwarfs its budgetary impact."
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In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats are "deeply disappointed," but the "fight to provide lawful status for immigrants in budget reconciliation continues. Senate Democrats have prepared alternate proposals and will be holding additional meetings with the Senate parliamentarian in the coming days."
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