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Decoding Reconciliation: Why the Senate Only Needs 50 Votes on Tax Bill

By David Hawkings
Posted November 24, 2017 at 5:08pm

By David Hawkings and Thomas McKinless

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Unlike most legislation in the Senate, the chamber’s tax overhaul effort will not be subject to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Why is that? Senior editor David Hawkings explains how certain deficit-altering bills are granted special parliamentary powers through a process called reconciliation.

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