Senate Parliamentarian Rules Elimination of PCAOB Not Permissible
The Office of the Senate Parliamentarian recently ruled that a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to defund the PCAOB and transfer its functions to the SEC is not permissible.
The House of Representatives passed the OBBBA on May 22 and moved it to the Senate, where the Senate’s parliamentarian determines if policy provisions like the PCAOB plan qualify for the budget reconciliation process. The budget reconciliation process requires a simple majority vote in both the House and the Senate.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled that the PCAOB provision does not qualify for the budget reconciliation process because it proposes a policy change rather than a budget change, making it subject to the Senate’s Byrd Rule that requires 60 votes to pass.