WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's nonpartisan parliamentarian says Democrats can’t use their $3.5 trillion package bolstering social and climate programs to give millions of immigrants a chance to become citizens.
The decision by the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, deals a blow to what was Democrats' clearest pathway in years to attaining that long-sought goal.
And it's a disheartening setback for President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats and their allies in the pro-immigration and progressive communities.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Senate Democrats are disappointed with the decision but have prepared alternate proposals.
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, today released the following statement regarding the Parliamentarian’s ruling on a pathway to legal status via reconciliation:
“We are deeply disappointed in the Parliamentarian’s decision, but the fight for immigration reform will continue. Senate Democrats have prepared alternative proposals for the Parliamentarian’s consideration in the coming days.”
