. . .With a powerful new tool, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has fresh options for advancing President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package and other priorities past Republicans in the 50-50 Senate.

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Republicans still pledge to do all they can to halt Biden, but an official parliamentarian’s opinion this week is a potential game-changer. It unleashes multiple options for Democrats to advance parts of Biden’s agenda — including immigration and Medicare legislation — with 51 votes in the 100-member Senate rather than the 60 typically needed to move major legislation past filibuster threats.

While congressional Democrats had already planned on resorting to “budget reconciliation,” a special, budget-linked procedure with a 51-vote threshold to pass parts of Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, the parliamentarian’s ruling opens the door to using it on certain other priorities. . . .

There is also discussion about using the process to lower the Medicare retirement age from 65 to 60 and other agenda items.

Schumer’s office said no decisions have been made. Any action still involves wresting consensus from all 50 senators in the Democratic caucus, progressives and centrists alike, which could prove daunting.  . . .

Congress used the budget reconciliation process last month to approve Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue despite no Republican support.

First used in 1980, the process has been employed most years since, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

In 2017, a Congress controlled by Republicans used budget reconciliation to approve the Trump-era GOP tax cuts on a party line vote. In 2010, Democrats used it for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. George W. Bush relied on reconciliation twice to approve tax cuts, including once when Vice President Dick Cheney cast the tie breaking vote. . . .

Typically, Congress has one budget resolution every fiscal year, or two each calendar year since the fiscal year starts Oct. 1. The parliamentarian signaled if the annual budget resolution is revised, the process can be used again. . . .

The filibuster enables any single senator to object to consideration of legislation or other matters, and can usually only be overcome with a 60-vote threshold — a tall order in the now evenly split chamber.

Democrats hold the majority in the 50-50 Senate because the party’s vice president, Kamala Harris, can cast a tie-breaking vote.

While Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and other leading progressives have advocated changing the filibuster rules, more centrist Democrats including Joe Manchin of West Virginia are not on board.

Using the budget reconciliation could provide a short-term fix, but it is not without drawbacks. It involves a cumbersome process and sometimes all-night Senate sessions called “vote-a-ramas” as senators offer multiple amendments. . . .

Already, the parliamentarian earlier this year rejected a proposal to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of the COVID-19 package because it did not meet budgetary guidelines. . . .

Those seeking changes to the filibuster rules welcomed the budget tool but said changes to the filibuster practice are still needed.

“It is great that Senate Democrats are going to be able to pass many of their economic priorities with a simple majority,” said Eli Zupnick of Fix our Senate, a group advocating filibuster changes.

But he said “that won’t be nearly enough if the filibuster remains as a tool.” . . .

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(Excerpt from ABC News. Article by Lisa Mascaro. Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)