Republicans in Congress have been working to find consensus to cement tax code changes made in President Donald Trump’s first presidency and jump-start his new administration using the budget reconciliation process.

The maneuver allows Republicans with full control of Washington to avoid the Senate’s filibuster, so they can effectively move legislation without Democrats’ support. But the process is complicated and comes with many potential pitfalls.

The process will be made all the more difficult for congressional GOP leadership, which must deal with the pressures of Trump's demands for tax cuts while guiding its fractious conference. House GOP lawmakers in particular will need near-uniform consensus because of its thin majority.

Sarah Binder is a senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings and a professor of political science at George Washington University. She specializes in Congress and legislative politics as well as Congress’s relationship with the Federal Reserve.

On today’s Talking Tax, Binder walks Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi through the history of reconciliation since it was created in the 1970s and what lawmakers can and can't enact through the process.

Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

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