The House, by a vote of 216-214, passed the Senate version of the budget resolution. The final vote was not without drama. House conservatives were opposed to the bill because they wanted assurances (which it is assumed they received) that the bill would cut at least $1.5 trillion in spending when the final reconciliation is written. But after pressure put on Members of Congress by both House leadership and the White House, the House passed the budget resolution.

The passage of this budget resolution by the House now sets up the budget reconciliation process. Now both chambers have officially agreed on a budget blueprint, House and Senate committees must begin drafting legislation to meet their assigned reconciliation targets.

We will be discussing reconciliation a lot in the coming months, so here is an introduction to the reconciliation process.