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If the Senate approves the legislation — as it is expected to do by a slim, simple majority and with bipartisan opposition — then the House will have to vote for a second time on the final text before it goes to the president’s desk for his signature.

Since there was no chance of avoiding a successful Democratic filibuster, GOP leadership opted to pass the cuts using reconciliation, a process that requires only a simple majority to approve certain budget and tax bills, but with an important caveat.

MacDonough’s rejections came under the Byrd rule, which requires that bills passed via a simple majority under reconciliation be limited to strictly budgetary concerns.

Because of these rules, Republicans can avoid a Democratic filibuster on the bill and pass it with a simple majority.

Wednesday's vote should be a formality because Tusk's coalition has a 12-seat majority in the lower house, the Sejm, and only a simple majority in the presence of half the 460 parliamentarians is required to win.