The Senate Parliamentarian: A Primer
Alan Frumin is about to become the most courted man in Washington. That's because he's the Senate parliamentarian — the guy who recommends which parts of the health care bill survive during the process of reconciliation. Host Guy Raz offers this primer on the position, with help from the previous parliamentarian, Robert Dove.
GUY RAZ, host:
Now, one of the key players this week in the Senate isn't a powerful committee chair or even an elected official. It's a man named Alan Frumin. Since 2001, he's been the Senate parliamentarian. His primary role is to help the members understand the sometimes byzantine rules of parliamentary procedure.
And this week, if, as expected, the Senate takes up the House reconciliation bill on health care, Alan Frumin will have to decide whether it complies with an obscure requirement called the Byrd rule, named after West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd.
And as former Senate parliamentarian Robert Dove explains, Alan Frumin's office is probably the hotbed of activity even as we speak.
Mr. ROBERT DOVE (Former Senate Parliamentarian): You are besieged by people on both sides, coming in, trying to make arguments as to why various provisions are either subject to the Byrd rule or not subject to the Byrd rule.
RAZ: Reconciliation means the bill needs just 51 votes to pass in the Senate, not the usual 60, but these bills are also subject to the Byrd rule, and it means any provision within them has to be taken out if it doesn't lead to deficit reduction.
And the people who do that weeding are Alan Frumin and his staff of nonpartisan experts. He'll deliver his verdict early in the week, but does the Senate have to listen to him?
Mr. DOVE: No, the Senate doesn't have to listen to him. The vice president doesn't have to listen to him. The presiding officer doesn't have to listen to him. But I can tell you that in an unbroken stream of situations, starting from 1969 on, every vice president and every presiding officer has listened to the parliamentarian.
RAZ: That's Robert Dove. He served as the Senate parliamentarian for 12 years.
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