The House of Representatives approved the Senate-passed Budget Reconciliation framework today by a party line vote, 220-to-212. With today's vote, Democrats can officially start the budget reconciliation process that will include a number of the Party's priorities, including an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.
The budget reconciliation framework instructs the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration, to make changes to existing policy that add no more than $107 billion to the deficit. A memo to all Senate Democrats noted that policy changes should provide an amnesty for qualifying illegal aliens.
It still hasn't been determined how many illegal aliens could qualify for an amnesty under the budget reconciliation proposal, but pro-amnesty groups have said that it could cover an estimated 8 million illegal aliens, including those who are eligible for the DACA executive amnesty, have received Temporary Protected States, have held jobs in agriculture, or have held an "essential" job.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has asked Senate committees to finalize the budget reconciliation bill by Sept. 15. The Senate returns from its summer recess on Sept. 13, meanwhile the House returns from its recess on Sept. 20.
Passage through the House was not as smooth as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had hoped. House Leaders had to delay a vote on the rule to begin debate last night because of resistance from 10 moderates within the House Democratic Caucus who were demanding a vote first on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure deal. While Pelosi didn't cave to their demands, she did agree to hold a vote on the infrastructure bill before the end of September.
