By Sen. Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement May 17 with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plus numerous other lawmakers, after winning an initial challenge before the Senate Parliamentarian, who advised that the current language in Republicans’ budget bill providing funding for Trump’s gilded ballroom would be subject to a 60-vote Byrd Rule point of order.
Under Senate rules, provisions included in a budget reconciliation bill must have a direct impact on federal spending or revenue and cannot be considered “extraneous” to the budget process.
The Senate Parliamentarian is the nonpartisan official responsible for interpreting those rules, including the Byrd Rule — a Senate rule designed to prevent unrelated policy provisions from being jammed into reconciliation bills that can pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote threshold.
In this case, the Parliamentarian advised that Republicans’ proposal to spend taxpayer dollars on Trump’s ballroom would be subject to a Byrd Rule challenge, meaning Democrats can force a vote requiring 60 senators to keep the provision in the bill — a threshold Republicans are unlikely to meet.
Heinrich and his colleagues are prepared to challenge any future language the Republicans try to pass to use taxpayer dollars to fund Trump’s ballroom.
“Throwing a billion taxpayer dollars at Trump’s gold-plated ballroom is the last thing Congress should be doing while hardworking Americans are getting crushed at the gas pump, at the grocery store, and by higher housing, health care, and home energy costs,” Heinrich said. “That’s why Senate Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to strip the funding for Trump’s gold-plated ballroom from this Republican funding bill.”
Heinrich continued to lash out Republicans’ recent spending habits while Democrats try to fight for Americans.
“Republicans’ only focus has been funding Trump’s ballroom and throwing tens of billions more taxpayer dollars at ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms or accountability – all while providing $0 in cost relief to American families,” he said. “Senate Democrats are focused on bringing down costs, and throughout this process, Democrats will continue to show the American people that we are fighting to make it easier for families to get ahead and build an economy where families thrive and billionaires pay their fair share.”
