A decision by the Senate’s rules referee will likely force Republicans to drop a major part of their so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
Democrats announced late Friday night the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a provision requiring states to share the cost of federal food benefits cannot stay in the bill under the fast-track legislative procedures Republicans are using.
It’s a significant setback. The proposal represented not only a major structural change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but also a decent chunk of savings that helped offset the cost of the bill’s tax cuts for the rich.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, trumpeted the ruling, which resulted from Democrats making their case to the parliamentarian in closed-door meetings.
“As much as Senate Republicans would prefer to throw out the rule book and advance their conservative families lose and billionaires win agenda, this process has rules and Democrats are making sure those rules are enforced,” Merkley said. “We will be fighting this bill every single day until Republicans bring it to the floor.”
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