Dems win reconciliation ruling on Cadillac tax

After hearing arguments on both sides, Frumin said that Democratic plans to push back an excise tax on so-called Cadillac insurance plans until 2018 was within the purview of budget rules allowable under the filibuster-proof reconciliation process. The GOP had argued it was beyond the scope of the five-year budgetary window allowed under the rules, and it was a violation of the so-called Byrd rule because of its changes to the Social Security law.

Republicans were hoping that if Frumin had ruled that the tax plan was out of order, it would have derailed the entire reconciliation measure.

Now Republicans said there are a series of other challenges they plan to levy against the bill in the coming days. “Next up, we’ll begin the process of flagging the dozens of drafting errors Republicans have discovered in the reconciliation package that we believe violate the Byrd rule,” a senior GOP aide said.