04.22.26

A Tale of Two Parties on Reconciliation

Republicans Use Budget Reconciliation to Cut Taxes and Secure the Border. Democrats Use It to Raise Taxes, Supercharge the IRS, and Implement Radical Environmental Policies.

SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE WORKING TOWARD A TARGETED RECONCILIATION BILL TO FUND LAW ENFORCEMENT AND BORDER SECURITY AFTER DEMOCRATS ABDICATED THEIR DUTY TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT

“Now is not the time to defund Border Patrol, and now is certainly not the time to put ICE out of business. These men and women have been dealing with the consequences of the over 11 million illegal immigrants that came to the United States during the Biden Administration.” – Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

  • After refusing to take the appropriations process seriously when they were in charge, Senate Democrats doubled down last year, shutting down the entire federal government for 43 days. (Punchbowl News: AM: Schumer on the shutdown: 'Every day gets better for us' – 10/9/25)
  • Now, Senate Democrats have created and sustained a second, 68-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security – after demanding reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), then walking away from negotiations: (CNN: A partial government shutdown has hit the Department of Homeland Security. Here’s what that means – 3/18/26)
    • “The White House reformed how ICE operates on its own months ago. And on top of that, the White House repeatedly offered Democrats a robust package of legislative reforms. But nothing was ever enough for Democrats. They kept moving the goalposts. And eventually they just walked away.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Because Democrats refuse to fund law enforcement and border security operations, Republicans are moving forward with “a targeted reconciliation bill that will provide funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).” (U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget: Chairman Graham Introduces Targeted FY26 Budget Resolution To Unlock Legislation To Keep Border Secure – 4/21/26)
  • “The FY 2026 budget resolution lays the groundwork for a reconciliation bill that will:”
    • “Guard against Democrats’ efforts to defund border security”
    • “Keep border crossings at historic lows”
    • “Fund ICE and Border Patrol despite Democrats’ outright refusal to do so” (U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget: Chairman Graham Introduces Targeted FY26 Budget Resolution To Unlock Legislation To Keep Border Secure – 4/21/26)
  • Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts law also included historic funding for the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border and keep Americans safe, including:
    • “$46.5 billion to complete construction of the border wall.”
    • “$14.4 billion for removal transportation.”
    • “$4.1 billion to hire additional CBP personnel, including 3,000 new Border Patrol agents.”
    • “[F]unding to hire 10,000 new [ICE] agents…” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Noem Commends President Trump and One Big Beautiful Bill Signing into Law: Historic Win for the American People and the Rule of Law – 7/4/25)

IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING FUNDS TO SECURE THE BORDER, REPUBLICANS’ WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUTS LAW HAS PUT MORE MONEY IN AMERICANS’ POCKETS AND GIVEN THEM NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO GET AHEAD

“We have a phenomenally increased boost from tax relief coming from the Working Families Tax Cuts that is now showing in the tax filing season.” – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

  • “Last year, congressional Republicans worked with President Trump to prevent the biggest tax hike in American history. Now, with the tax filing season ending, tens of millions of American families are finding more money in their pockets thanks to new tax relief included in the Working Families Tax Cuts.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Senate Republicans: Working Families Tax Cuts are Delivering Real Results for Americans – 4/15/26)
  • Every Democrat in Congress voted against the Working Families Tax Cuts. Had Democrats been successful in their obstruction, there would have been a $2.6 trillion tax increase on taxpayers making less than $400,000 – breaking Democrats’ past promises not to raise taxes on these earners. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25; U.S. Senate: H.R. 1: Roll Call Vote #372 – 7/1/25; U.S. House of Representatives: H.R. 1: Roll Call Vote #190 – 7/3/25; U.S. Congress: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 123 – 7/14/21; CNN: CNN Presidential Town Hall With Kamala Harris – 10/23/24; U.S. Congress: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 143 – 9/7/22)
  • “The average refund this filing season is over $3,400 – 11% higher than last year, and 19% higher than the average return over the prior 4 years.” (White House: This Tax Day, Americans Are Keeping More of What They Earn – 4/15/26)
  • “[T]he IRS sent out much more money than at the same point last year: more than $241 billion in refunds, a 14 percent increase compared to $211 billion last year.” (The Washington Post: Tax refunds shoot up as Americans take advantage of new deductions – 4/15/26)
  • “The New York Times spoke with three dozen Americans up and down the income ladder to understand how the tax cuts are reshaping their finances… Many of the taxpayers said they had received their largest refund in years, money that is going toward paying down credit card debt, catching up on bills, padding savings accounts or covering the cost of a vacation.” (The New York Times: ‘I Got Back Every Penny’: Inside Trump’s Supercharged Tax Season – 4/4/26)
  • “We’ve seen an overwhelming adoption of the President’s key tax priorities, with 53 million Americans (45% of all filers) benefiting from at least one of President Trump’s signature new tax cuts.” (White House: This Tax Day, Americans Are Keeping More of What They Earn – 4/15/26)

DEMOCRATS, ON THE OTHER HAND, USED RECONCILIATION IN 2021 TO RAISE TAXES, TRANSFER STUDENT LOAN DEBT FROM HIGH EARNERS TO TAXPAYERS, AND MORE

  • Immediately after taking control of Congress in 2021, Democrats “moved swiftly” to pass $1.9 trillion in funding for left-wing pet projects, “quickly cutting out Republicans to focus on passing the biggest bill possible on their own terms.” (The Washington Post: Democrats’ messaging shifts as they pass Biden stimulus bill: From economic crisis rescue to poverty relief – 3/10/21)
    • “Democrats were unapologetic about their goals, believing the public was on their side as they pushed massive relief legislation into law. They seized the opportunity to load up the bill with liberal policies they supported long before the advent of the coronavirus crisis…” (The Washington Post: Democrats’ messaging shifts as they pass Biden stimulus bill: From economic crisis rescue to poverty relief – 3/10/21)
  • Democrats’ $1.9 trillion reconciliation bill included a number of long-held Democrat priorities, including an explicit ban on state-level tax cuts: (CBS News: Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law – 3/12/21)
    • “The package includes $350 billion in aid designed to replenish tax revenue collections that decreased during the pandemic,” unlike the bipartisan COVID relief passed under Republicans, in which “[f]unds were limited to expenses ‘directly related’ to COVID-19, not replacing lost revenue like Biden's bill.” (USA Today: How much money will your state get if Biden's COVID-19 relief bill passes? – 3/4/21)
    • “They’ve also launched a sneak attack against conservative states. Read their legislation’s lips: No new state tax cuts. That’s the news from a provision added last week by Senate Democrats that limits how states and localities can use their $360 billion windfall… The bill explicitly bars states from cutting taxes.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Democrats to States: No New Tax Cuts – 3/9/21)
    • Plus, Democrats got “an early start on their tax-increase agenda. They’ve tucked a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations into their coronavirus relief package that together are worth $60 billion.” (Politico: A $60 billion surprise in the Covid relief bill: Tax hikes – 3/10/21)
    • Democrats also laid the groundwork “for President Biden to forgive student debt through executive action” by “remov[ing] any tax consequences for households whose student debt is forgiven through 2025.” Biden’s student loan scheme “skew[ed] to upper-income borrowers who have attended college at the expense of those who don’t.” (The Wall Street Journal: Senate Bill Would Clear Hurdle for Student Loan Forgiveness – 3/5/21; The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Biden’s Student Loan Boast: The Supreme Court ‘Didn’t Stop Me’ – 2/23/24)

THEN, IN 2022, DEMOCRATS USED RECONCILIATION TO SUPERSIZE THE IRS AND ENSHRINE RADICAL LEFT-WING CLIMATE POLICIES

  • Just over a year later, Democrats passed another reconciliation bill with trillions of dollars’ worth of “Green New Scam” climate provisions, an $80 billion windfall for the IRS, and more: (Competitive Enterprise Institute: The true cost of the Inflation Reduction Act – 3/31/25)
    • Democrats used their reconciliation bill to send $80 billion to the IRS, in part to increase tax audits on working families: “the Congressional Budget Office informed lawmakers that audits of taxpayers making under $400,000 accounts for about $20 billion in revenue for the Inflation Reduction Act.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: The Middle Class Won’t Escape the New IRS Audit Wave – 8/14/22; Fox Business: IRS audits will generate $20B from those making under $400K under Inflation Reduction Act – 8/12/22)
    • President “Biden vowed never to raise taxes on any Americans making less than $400,000 annually. Yet according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Schumer-Manchin bill does just that. Up to $16.7 billion worth of tax increases, JCT estimates.” (Punchbowl News: AM: Washington's big August – 8/1/22)
    • Democrats’ legislation also targeted manufacturing and conventional energy production for new tax hikes, “which includes some $370 billion in spending to help fight climate change” and “impose[d] other costs on the oil and gas industry, including a first-time fee on methane emissions.” (Bloomberg: Manchin Spending Deal Includes Billions in Oil Import Taxes – 7/31/22; The Wall Street Journal: Democrats’ Corporate Tax Plan Threatens Higher Bills for Manufacturers – 7/30/22)
    • Democrats used reconciliation to codify their electric vehicle mandate: “The Biden Administration is using regulation to essentially mandate that auto makers churn out electric vehicles. Now taxpayers will subsidize that cost, on top of the $7,500 EV tax credits so affluent Americans can buy more Teslas.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: The Schumer-Manchin Tax and Subsidy Pact – 7/28/22)
  • Taken together, Democrats’ reconciliation efforts funded their left-wing wish list at the cost of supercharging inflation:
    • “Nearly four years ago, the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats made a $1.9 trillion bet in the form of the American Rescue Plan. They lost, as it contributed to a surge in inflation that fueled massive voter discontent and Donald Trump's return to the White House.” (Axios: Democrats' $1.9 trillion bet that blew up – 11/10/24)
    • The Penn-Wharton Budget Model increased its estimate of the cost of the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate and energy provisions from $384.9 billion in August 2022 to $1.045 trillion in April 2023 – a 271% increase. (Penn-Wharton Budget Model: Update: Budgetary Cost of Climate and energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act – 4/27/23)