Can the Senate Defund Planned Parenthood?

The Senate parliamentarian now says no. But two years ago she had a different answer.

Some of the Senate's rules governing what legislation can be passed with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, are vague and confusing. So it was widely expected that the Senate parliamentarian would say that some provisions in the GOP bill to partially repeal and replace Obamacare cannot be repealed with a simple majority vote under budget reconciliation rules.

But it was surprising to read Friday evening in a document released by Senator Bernie Sanders, the ranking Democrat on the budget committee, that the Senate parliamentarian believes that the Better Care Reconciliation Act's (BCRA) provision defunding Planned Parenthood runs afoul of what is known as the Byrd Rule. The reason this opinion on Planned Parenthood was so surprising because in 2015 the same parliamentarian permitted an identical provision in a budget reconciliation bill that passed the Senate and was vetoed by President Obama.

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