Senate Majority Leader John Thune is still expressing optimism about bringing the chamber’s version of the One Big Beautiful Bill to the floor for its first procedural vote this week, but with the Senate parliamentarian still studying the language to see what does and doesn’t comply with the chamber’s rules for reconciliation that deadline could slip to the end of the week or possibly even the weekend.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has yet to release her mark up of the Senate Finance Committee’s language, which includes ending the tax and registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and “any other weapons” mandated under the National Firearms Act. In fact, it may be Wednesday before we learn whether those provisions will survive the “Byrd bath”.
The multitude of unresolved issues has left Republicans unsure when the bill will get to the Senate floor, even as leaders project confidence they are on track to pass it and send it back to the House this week — setting up final passage ahead of their July 4 target.
Most crucially, it could be Wednesday night or later before Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough finishes ruling on whether major tax provisions, including some measures at the very heart of the domestic policy bill, pass muster under the budget rules GOP lawmakers want to use to pass their bill on party lines.
“I think we’ll eventually pass something, I just can’t tell you when,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “We’ve got a lot of stuff to work out, and the bill will be changed on the floor.”
Republicans had initially hoped to have a revised bill ready to be released Monday. Now they aren’t expected to release it while the parliamentarian’s review — the so-called “Byrd bath” — is pending, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking.
According to Politico, staffers for the Senate Finance Committee met with MacDonough on Monday to go over the health-related provisions in their portion of the budget bill, and will meet with her today to discuss the tax provisions, which includes the NFA-related language. The wesbiste also reports that MacDonough isn’t expected to finish her final rulings on the Finance Committee’s proposals until Wednesday at the earliest.
The delay isn’t necessarily bad news for Second Amendment supporters. Though Democrats have raised objections to the move to repeal the taxation and registration requirements, Republicans and Second Amendment groups have expressed confidence that the language will survive the “Byrd bath”, given that it’s clearly tax-related.
We haven’t heard any objections from Republican senators about the plan to repeal those requirements either, which is a positive sign. Democrats have lodged their objection with MacDonough, but they’ve also been trying to rally opposition within the Senate itself. So far, though, it looks like they’ve not been able to bring any GOP senator over to their side.
The biggest challenge for the plan is the parliamentarian’s red pen. If it can survive the “Byrd Bath”, the language is likely to remain intact when the Senate does eventually cast its first votes on the One Big Beautiful Bill. For now, though, the wait continues, and the fate of NFA language is still uncertain.
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