Democrats Counting on Senate Rules to Block Beautiful Bill

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act being reviewed by the Senate could be stalled or even blocked by a parliamentary rule that Democrats are pushing for.

At issue, according to The Hill, is whether Senate Republicans' huge tax relief in the bill can be considered part of making President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent and budget neutral.

The Senate parliamentarian can declare the tax cuts in the other direction — adding to the deficit beyond a 10-year window. That debate has put the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, in a tough spot.

Should the parliamentarian declare the tax cuts as creating extended deficits, Republican Senators could be forced to put the cuts into an extension period rather than make them permanent to allow a simple majority vote of the Senate for approval.

Republicans have challenged the plan from the Democrats, indicating that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., could determine whether a bill is deficit neutral.

If the GOP goes in that direction, Democrats are ready to issue a simple point-of-order objection, which could hold up the Senate action on the legislation and bring it to a screeching halt.

Americans are about to find out over the upcoming weeks how the nation's senators want to approach approving or blocking a monumental piece of legislation.

• 6 Senate Republicans Could Stall Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill
• Speaker: Critics Wrong, Bill Will 'Reduce the Deficit,' Not Raise It