Joe the Parliamentarian?
In ordinary times, a sentence beginning with the words “the former Senate parliamentarian” would not bode well for the ensuing blog post. But these are not ordinary times.
The former Senate parliamentarian, Robert Dove, has made some interesting news of late. Today, Dove told MSNBC that Vice President Biden is the ultimate decider on parliamentary questions arising in the reconciliation process.
Ultimately it’s the Vice President of the United States…. It is the decision of the Vice President whether or not to play a role here…. And I have seen Vice Presidents play that role in other very important situations…. The parliamentarian only can advise, it is the vice president who rules.
This authority of the VP derives, of course, from the fact the Constitution designates the VP as “President of the Senate.” (See Article I, Section 3.) I would also note that the Constitution provides that the Senate shall choose a “President pro tempore” to preside in the vice president’s absence. The current President pro tem, fittingly, is Sen. Robert Byrd, author of the Byrd Rule. As I’ve mentioned before, the Byrd Rule sets the standard for what is “out of order” (i.e., impermissible) in the budget reconciliation process. It’s conceivable that Sen. Byrd could be the final arbiter of whether a health reform patch passes muster under his eponymous rule.
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