Policy Backgrounders

What Will Be the Size of the Reconciliation Bill? Will it Be Paid For?

September 17, 2021

The budget reconciliation process in the House and Senate continues to get nowhere special at breakneck speed. Under pressure from a commitment by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote on a final reconciliation bill on September 27, the various House Committees that were charged to produce component bills for the reconciliation package have reported their legislation. This process is moving so fast that the publicly available documentation has not yet caught up. However, there are clear signs that the bill as it stands—in which serious issues remain unresolved, including one major difference between two House Committees—would not garner the necessary 50 votes in the Senate.