Back
2
 min read

What is Budget Reconciliation?

By 
By 
No items found.
  |  Updated on 
  |  Updated on 
September 8, 2026

Federal Budget

Ambassador writing program

The Summary

You may have seen the term “budget reconciliation” in news headlines recently, usually tied to high-stakes policy battles. This fast-tracked legislative process, which allows the majority party in Congress to pass bills more easily, has become an increasingly popular tool for advancing each political party’s agenda. 

Here’s what you need to know about budget reconciliation bills and how they become law. 

What is budget reconciliation?

Budget reconciliation, often simply called reconciliation, is a tool Congress uses to pass revenue and spending legislation on an expedited timeline with limited debate. 

Through reconciliation, the Senate can pass bills with a simple majority (51 votes) instead of the 60 votes typically required to end a filibuster. A filibuster is a tactic commonly used in the Senate to extend the debate on a piece of legislation, delaying or sometimes blocking a vote. 

Reconciliation bills are often enacted without bipartisan support, and therefore occur when the same party controls the House, Senate, and Oval Office. Without this, it would be unlikely that reconciliation bills could get majority support in either chamber of Congress or enough votes to override a presidential veto. 

How does budget reconciliation work?

Each year, Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution that acts as a nonbinding blueprint for government revenue and spending. As part of this process, Congress may agree on “reconciliation instructions,” which direct specific committees to craft proposals that raise revenue or cut spending by a certain amount. 

Once those proposals are finalized, the House and Senate Budget Committees compile them into a final bill that can be advanced quickly through Congress.  

For the Senate, debate on a reconciliation bill is limited to just 20 hours. It is then followed by a “vote-a-rama,” during which Senators from either party can propose as many amendments as they want. This process usually lasts well into the night and is often used by the minority party to try to change the legislation or force tough votes. 

Once both chambers of Congress approve the same bill text in simple majority votes and the President signs it, the underlying provisions become law. 

What can be included in reconciliation bills?

Now, you may be wondering why the majority party doesn't just use reconciliation to pass every piece of legislation along party lines. Well, this is because reconciliation has strict guidelines as to what it can be used for. 

The main restriction is that all provisions included in the bill must have a direct effect on the federal budget. Among the other requirements, reconciliation bills are also not allowed to make changes to Social Security or add to the deficit over 10 years. 

What this means for you and me.

Reconciliation has become much more common in recent years, often serving as the main vehicle for landmark legislation that affects you and the priorities you care about. 

Democrats most recently used the tool to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, 2022). Republicans have used reconciliation twice since gaining control of Congress and the White House in early 2025, most notably to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, 2025). 

The increased use of reconciliation allows the Senate to act more like the House, passing consequential legislation along party lines. This means that the party in control of Congress and the White House can singlehandedly pass legislation aligned with their party’s policy agenda without needing to reach across the aisle and potentially make compromises to find bipartisan support. This can impact government benefits, funding, and resources you use every day.   

If you want to learn more about the federal budget, visit our federal budget primer or sign up for our newsletter to get our latest policy explainers.

GALLERY
No items found.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Group of people studying and discussing papers around tables in a bright classroom.
Q:
A:
Keep Exploring
Pink piggy bank with a US flag and green dollar bills on a pink background.

POLICY

Federal Budget

Care about public policy? You need to understand where the federal government gets - and how it spends - money.

Read More
Pink piggy bank with US flag and green dollar bills on a pink background.

POLICY

National Debt

Care about public policy? You need to understand where the federal government gets - and how it spends - money.

Read More
Two-tiered cake with pink icing, candles, and gold number 67 candles on top.

POLICY

Social Security

More than 71 million Americans rely on Social Security for retirement income, survivors benefits, and disability insurance payments. The program is the single-largest expenditure in the federal budget, making up more than 20% of it. Learn more about how the program works, its funding challenges, and some ways to address them.

Read More
Three smiling young adults stand together in front of a historic stone building with ornate carvings.

Leadership

Leadership Programs

Our programs and events help you stay informed and get involved. Want to learn more about issues like Medicare, student loans, and Social Security? Check out our leadership and events section.

Read More
The United States Capitol building with an American flag and purple sky with clouds.

Policy

Policy Library

Learn more about our country's biggest challenges.

Read More
ARTICLES

Ambassador writing program

Federal Budget

4

min read

Taxes 101: Medicare and Social Security Payroll Taxes

Ambassador writing program

Federal Budget

5

min read

What Are the Different Types of Federal Debt?

Ambassador writing program

Federal Budget

4

min read

Federal Budget 101: Discretionary Spending

Ambassador writing program

Federal Budget

2

min read

Here’s What You Can Expect in a Government Shutdown

A bill passed by Congress to fund all or parts of the federal government for a limited time. It can keep the government operating if it fails to pass regular, full-year funding bills by the October 1st deadline.
Continuing Resolution (CR)
The point at which Social Security retirement benefits will only be funded by payroll taxes because the Old-Age Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund has run out. This trust fund closes the gap between revenue from payroll taxes and the total funding needed for monthly benefits. When we hit this point, an automatic 22% cut to benefits will be triggered. Up-to-date projections estimate this will occur in 2032.
Social Security Insolvency
The federal budget is the itemized plan for public expenditures of the federal government. This includes mandatory and discretionary spending. The budget is compiled annually and is named after the proceeding fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. If a budget is not agreed upon by the start of the fiscal year, a government shutdown will be triggered unless Congress passes a continuing resoultion, which provides funding at existing levels for a period of time to allow for negotiations to continue.
Federal Budget
This ratio compares the federal government debt of a country to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), in other words, what it owes to what it produces. Expressed as a percentage, the higher the debt-to-GDP ratio of a country the more likely it is that a country will face economic challenges due to its debt.
Debt-to-GDP Ratio
The federal debt is the cumulative amount the federal government owes to bondholders, both foreign and domestic. This represents the total, historical difference between federal spending and revenue.
National Debt
The federal budget deficit is the annual difference between the federal government’s revenue and how much it spends.
Budget Deficit
GDP is the total monetary value of consumer goods and services within a country's economy. This calculation considers consumer spending, government spending, private domestic investment, and a country's imports and exports.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The U.S. federal government's sole source of income is tax revenue, which is primarily composed of individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, and payroll taxes. Other sources of tax revenue include excise taxes and estate taxes.
Tax Revenue
These bills provide and place limits on an agency's budget authority, the ability to spend government funds. There are 12 annual appropriations bills and occasional supplementary appropriations bills that obligate federal funds for specific purposes.
Appropriations Bills
Authorizing legislation is a prerequisite for Congress to appropriate budget authority, or the ability to spend government funds for various programs. Authorization laws also act as guidance on the appropriate level of funding to be set aside for specific programs. This might be in setting a limit, or it may simply authorize “such sums as may be necessary.”
Budget Authorizations
A congressional budget resolution establishes topline spending and deficit limits for the following fiscal year. Although not law, because it's not signed by the president, budget resolutions are enforceale using the rules of either chamber. By law, a budget resolution is to pass the House and Senate by April 15 of each year, which rarely happens.
Budget Resolution
The president's budget request kicks off the annual budget process and provides a breakdown of how the president would like Congress to enact tax and spending laws. This request is due on the first Monday in Feburary but is normally provided late.
Budget Request
Discretionary spending is the portion of the federal budget that Congress debates every year. There are 12 components of discretionary spending, and these are usually broken down into defense and non-defense spending.
Discretionary Spending
The programs that Congress is required to fund make up mandatory spending. This includes programs like Social Security, Medicare, and interest payments on the debt.
Mandatory Spending
What you pay for your own medical care.
Out-of-pocket Payments
Within the context of the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, insolvency means that Medicare is unable to cover the full cost of Part A (hospital care) benefits.
HI Trust Fund Involvency
Chronic conditions are diseases and conditions that usually last for 3 months or longer, such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer.
Chronic Diseases
The percentage of the costs of a healthcare service that you pay (e.g., 20%). Coinsurance kicks in after you've paid your deductible.
Coinsurance
The amount you pay for healthcare services before your insurance begins to cover expenses.
Deductibles
Examples include disabilities that qualify the individual for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits (i.e., unable to engage in “substantial gainful activity” because of a medically-determined physical or mental impairment expected to last at least 12 months or until death), end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Long-term Disabilities
For every current recipient of Social Security, there are several active workers whose taxes are transferred directly to retirees. When Social Security began, there were dozens of workers per every recipient. That number has shrunk to just under three workers for every active Social Security recipient.
Worker-to-Beneficiary Ratio
As a covered worker, you pay Social Security taxes up to the taxable maximum. In 2025, that amount is $176,100. Since Social Security was never meant to function as a retirement program, wages subject to taxation were capped so that high-income individuals did not end up with Social Security payments many times what would be necessary to prevent poverty in old age.
Taxable Maximum
As the spouse of a Social Security recipient, you are entitled to additional benefits of up to one-half of their full benefits. You do not have to have a work history to receive this payment. If you have worked and are owed Social Security benefits, you get the maximum of what you are owed or your calculated spousal benefit.
Spousal Benefit
All funds in the OASDI trust funds are invested in "special issue securities" specifically created for Social Security. In effect, they are IOUs that the government pays to itself.
Special Issue Securities
In the context of Social Security, the "replacement rate" or "replacement ratio" is the percent of pre-retirement earnings that Social Security recipients can expect to receive. Median-income retirees typically expect around a mid-thirty percent replacement rate, low-income retirees get closer to fifty percent, and high-income retirees typically receive a mid-twenty percent replacement rate.
Replacement Rate
Every covered worker pays a payroll tax that includes a combined 12.4% up to the taxable maximum.
Payroll Tax
The primary insurance amount is the sum of three separate percentages of the AIME. It is the initial benefit a retiree receives, and it increases with any future COLA.
PIA
The Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is what most people picture when they hear "Social Security." This trust fund pays benefits to retired workers and their spouses and dependents. It also pays benefits to the survivors of deceased retirees.
OASI
OASDI stands for Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. It encompasses both the retirement portion of Social Security (OASI) and the disability insurance program (DI).
OASDI
The full retirement age began at 65 but is slowly increasing to the final age of 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
Full Retirement Age
Employers whose workers pay into Social Security also contribute 6.2% of each worker's payroll taxes. While it may seem like employers pay for half of all benefits, economists typically assume that any taxes paid by employers are in effect paid by employees, since in absence of the mandatory taxes, the employees would have higher wages by roughly the same amount.
Employer Contribution
Every covered worker contributes 6.2% of their paycheck in OASDI payroll taxes, which constitutes the "employee contribution" toward Social Security.
Employee Contribution
Future Social Security recipients can elect to retire early at 62 and receive reduced benefit payments. For more, click here.
Early Retirement Age
DI stands for Disability Insurance. While most people associate Social Security with retirement, it also technically encompasses disability insurance payments to almost nine million Americans.
DI
The total amount of any employee's pay that is taxed by Social Security payroll taxes. All wages below the taxable maximum are covered earnings. About 94% of workers fall under the taxable maximum every year.
Covered Earnings
The cost of living adjustment (COLA) is an annual adjustment for Social Security benefits designed to prevent losses in beneficiaries' purchasing power due to inflation.
COLA
Social Security recipients are not limited to retirees. In the OASI system, spouses are entitled to a spousal benefit, as are dependents of beneficiaries who are under the age of 19.
Beneficiary
Stands for average indexed monthly earnings. When a worker retires, the Social Security Administration summarizes up to 35 years of the worker's lifetime earnings and adjusts them for wage inflation. This number is then used to calculate the retiree's "PIA" or primary insurance amount.
AIME