Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) says the chamber’s parliamentarian has blocked a proposal to let churches and charities engage in partisan politics, keeping it out of the final tax bill set to be unveiled Friday.
The repeal of the Johnson Amendment was in the House tax bill but not in the Senate’s version, and it was a priority for President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Republicans are advancing the tax bill under procedures known as reconciliation. That lets them pass the measure with a simple majority in the Senate and thus no Democratic votes. But it also comes with constraints, namely the Byrd rule. That law, named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W. Va.), prevents reconciliation bills from containing provisions that aren’t primarily fiscal in nature on a simple-majority vote.