Parliamentarian Blocks GOP’s Shadow Repeal of Biden Policies

EV, SNAP, Silencers, and Immigration policies all failed to pass the Byrd Rule

Over the last week, the Senate Parliamentarian has quietly gutted a series of GOP-backed provisions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill", not because of ideology, but because of a Senate rule few Americans have heard of: the Byrd Rule. Designed to prevent unrelated policy items from being jammed into budget reconciliation bills, the Byrd Rule has become the final firewall between sweeping partisan policy and law.

This time, what it blocked wasn’t random; it was coordinated. Every struck provision aimed to dismantle a major Biden-era initiative. As one watchdog put it, this was a “shadow repeal” effort to reverse climate, food, gun safety, and immigration policies through procedural backdoors.

On June 23rd, we covered the first set of Parliamentarian blocks (see link below), and today we visit the recently announced changes.

Here’s a breakdown of what was struck and why it matters.

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See our ongoing coverage of the OBBB and the Senate Parlimentarian.

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OBBB: A Budget Built to Fail

ICYMI: The One Big Beautiful Budget Breakdown

Scrapping USPS Electric Vehicles

Republicans attempted to force the U.S. Postal Service to discard thousands of electric vehicles and dismantle its electric vehicle charging infrastructure, a key climate investment from the Biden administration. However, the Parliamentarian ruled the move had “no direct budgetary impact,” and was therefore ineligible under reconciliation.

Environmental groups called the attempt a clear sabotage. “This wasn’t about budgets,” said one transportation policy watchdog. “It was about killing a Biden-era climate win without ever taking a public vote.”

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Reversing Vehicle Emissions and EV Mandates

GOP lawmakers also sought to roll back Biden’s EPA rules slashing tailpipe emissions and mandating electric vehicle growth. These rules are projected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 50% by 2032. The Parliamentarian ruled the rollback was purely regulatory — a policy reversal with no fiscal weight — and struck it from the bill.

Climate advocates praised the ruling. “This was a legislative ambush targeting clean air standards,” said an advocate from the League of Conservation Voters. “The Byrd Rule is doing the job Republicans hoped the courts would.”

See our previous reporting on EVs here:

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Forcing States to Shoulder SNAP Costs

Another provision aimed to make states pay a share of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps over 40 million Americans afford food. The GOP’s argument to include it was “budget efficiency.” The Parliamentarian’s view? A coercive policy change dressed in fiscal clothing.

Food security groups were blunt. “This was an attack on the right to eat, wrapped in budget jargon,” said a spokesperson for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “It failed because it had no fiscal honesty.”

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Authorizing States to Enforce Immigration Law

Republicans attempted to empower states to enforce federal immigration rules, a move reminiscent of Trump 1.0-era policies that blurred the line between federal and state power. The Parliamentarian rejected the provision as purely ideological, lacking any budgetary relevance.

Immigrant rights groups warned that if passed, it would have led to racial profiling and constitutional violations. “They tried to do with budget law what they couldn’t do with Trump’s ICE raids,” one advocacy group said.

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Penalizing the Pentagon for Missing Paperwork

In a bid for “accountability,” one GOP proposal would have slashed Pentagon funds if the Defense Secretary failed to submit a $150 billion spending plan on time. But the provision didn’t directly cut or raise any federal dollars; it simply imposed policy conditions.

As government oversight experts pointed out, it was an enforcement trap with no fiscal rationale. “Conditional penalties with no real budget effect? That’s policy by punishment, and Byrd says no.”

Should the Pentagon be more accountable for funding? YES! But does it belong in a budget bill? Parlimentarian says nope. See our reporting here regarding the Pentagon’s troubling financial issues:

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The Pentagon’s Blank Check, and the People Paying the Price

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Deregulating Silencers and Short-Barreled Firearms

The Senate version of the bill went beyond repealing the $200 tax on gun silencers by expanding the exemption to cover short-barreled rifles and shotguns, effectively removing them from the National Firearms Act. The House dropped the gun silencer provision in its version. While the tax repeal might survive Byrd scrutiny due to its budget effect, the deregulation itself likely won’t.

Gun safety advocates sounded the alarm. “This wasn’t about taxes,” said one advocate with Giffords. “It was about quietly deregulating weapons used in mass shootings. Thankfully, Senate rules saw through it.”

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A Coordinated Rollback, Stopped by Rules

What ties these six provisions together isn’t just that they violate Senate procedure. It’s that they represent a single strategic push: to reverse Biden-era policy gains using budget law as a weapon.

Whether it was climate, gun safety, food aid, or immigration enforcement, each attempt tried to do by reconciliation what would fail in open debate. And in each case, the Byrd Rule did what floor votes never got to do: it stopped the rollback cold.

The final budget will now move forward without these ideological add-ons, at least for the time being. But the political signal is clear: for the GOP, budget bills have become the new battlefield for the culture war. And watchdogs will be watching.

Bibliography:

• “GOP Tax Bill Would Ease Regulations on Gun Silencers and Some Rifles and Shotguns.” AP News, June 10, 2025.

• “Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill:’ What’s In, What’s Out.” Axios, June 23, 2025.

• “Senate GOP’s Plan to Push Food Aid Costs onto States Axed from Megabill.” Politico, June 21, 2025.

• “Senate Republicans Cannot Force US Postal Service to Scrap EVs, Parliamentarian Says.” Reuters, June 23, 2025.

• “Senate Parliamentarian Rejects Republican Bid to Reverse Biden Vehicle Rules.” Reuters, June 20, 2025.

• “Why the Senate’s Byrd Rule Could Mean Trouble for Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’” Time, June 21, 2025.