What You Need to Know About the Byrd Rule

The overhaul of the U.S. tax code, which Republicans in Congress are hoping to pass by the end of 2017, is being shaped by an arcane Senate rule crafted by a lawmaker who’s been dead for seven years. The Byrd rule, named for Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator who represented West Virginia for 51 years, governs the budget process that Republicans are using for tax reform. If the tax reform bill doesn’t pass the Byrd rule test, it could go nowhere in the Senate.

The Byrd rule limits the types of legislation that can be moved through Congress under what’s known as budget reconciliation. Normally 60 votes are required in the 100-member Senate to bring debate to a close. The Senate’s reconciliation process, which allows for budget-related bills to be passed with a simple majority, was originally designed to pass difficult deficit-reducing bills that raised taxes and cut spending. This year, reconciliation could allow the 52 Republicans to craft a bill that Democrats are powerless to block with a filibuster, or unlimited debate. Encoded in section 313 of the Congressional Budget Act in 1990, the Byrd rule states that reconciliation bills -- like the Republican tax bill and the earlier attempt to repeal Obamacare -- cannot contain "extraneous" provisions.