Lindsey Graham claims sole power to decide budget law compliance

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham secured sole authority to determine whether provisions in the $5 trillion 'One Big Beautiful Bill' violate the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act on Jun. 30, 2025.

Presiding officer Bill Hagerty ruled that Graham as Budget chair has unilateral power to decide budget compliance without parliamentarian oversight, drastically limiting Democratic minority power to raise budget objections.

Graham invoked Section 312 of the Congressional Budget Act, claiming it empowers him to use a 'current policy baseline' rather than traditional 'current law baseline' to make tax cuts appear budget-neutral.

The ruling allows Graham to override Senate parliamentarian EMElizabeth MacDonough's traditional role in interpreting reconciliation compliance, concentrating interpretive power in a single senator.

Senator Jeff Merkley immediately appealed the ruling, pointing to Congressional Budget Office Director PSPhillip Swagel's letter asserting the Finance Committee portion would increase deficits by $3.5 trillion between 2025-34.

Republicans rejected Merkley's appeal by a party-line vote of 53-47, establishing binding precedent that any future Budget Committee chair can invoke unilateral budget interpretation authority.

The decision breaks 51 years of Senate procedure requiring multi-committee review and parliamentarian interpretation of budget compliance in reconciliation bills.

Graham told colleagues his exercise of power was justified by Section 312 of the Congressional Budget Act, though Democrats argued this creates 'phony baseline' never used in reconciliation history.