A Republican plan to expand private school vouchers nationwide was dealt a major setback Friday when the Senate parliamentarian said the proposal would run afoul of procedural rules.
The years-in-the-making plan would have created a federal tax credit supporting scholarships to help families send their children to private schools or other options beyond their local public schools. But in an overnight announcement, the Senate parliamentarian advised against including the proposal in President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill .
It added to mounting problems for Republicans as key proposals were deemed ineligible for the filibuster-proof reconciliation package. The parliamentarian's rulings are advisory but are rarely, if ever, ignored. It's unclear if Republicans will try to rewrite the provisions or simply drop them from the bill.
Another education plan deemed ineligible for reconciliation would have exempted religious colleges from a federal endowment tax . The proposal sought to raise the tax rate on wealthier colleges' endowments while carving out religious institutions like Hillsdale College, a conservative, Christian school in Michigan and an ally of the Trump administration.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, said, "We have been successful in removing parts of this bill that hurt families and workers, but the process is not over, and Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules."