Senate Parliamentarian Nixes New Dem Immigration Plan for $3.5T Spree
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough denied a bid by Democrats Wednesday to make language giving millions of immigrants legal status part of the massive $3.5 trillion spending bill — dealing a second blow to the party’s efforts to expand the scope of the already massive proposal.
Democrats are hoping to pass the plan through reconciliation, meaning it only requires 51 Senate votes rather than the usual 60. However, Senate rules call for such bills to be focused on the federal budget — as well as for the removal of provisions deemed “merely incidental” to government spending.
The Associated Press reported that the language MacDonough rejected Wednesday would have permitted immigrants who arrived in the US before 2010 to apply for legal status if they met other conditions. Current federal law only allows those in the US before 1972 to apply for legal status.
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