Parliamentarian rules against Senate effort to force Postal Service to sell off EVs

The Senate parliamentarian says Republicans cannot include a measure that would force the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) used by the U.S. Postal Service in their “big, beautiful bill.”

The sweeping GOP budget and policy bill included a provision that would have required the General Services Administration, which handles the equipment used by government agencies, to sell all electric vehicles owned by the Postal Service.

But Democrats announced on Sunday that the parliamentarian, a nonpartisan arbiter of the upper chamber’s rules, found that this provision did not pass muster.

“There is no better way to define this Big Beautiful Betrayal of a bill than families lose, and billionaires win,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a written statement alongside the announcement. “The Byrd Rule is enshrined in law for a reason, and Democrats are making sure it is enforced.”

The Republican bill seeking to advance much of President Trump’s agenda is going through a special process known as budget reconciliation that allows it to avoid the Senate’s typical 60-vote threshold and pass with a simple majority — avoiding the need for any Democratic votes in the process.

However, to qualify for reconciliation, the policies that are included in the bill need to comply with the Byrd Rule, which prevents “extraneous” measures from being included in this type of legislation.

“This is part of the back and forth, and not a big deal,” said a written statement from a spokesperson for Sen Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

“If we won everything on the first round, that means we weren’t being aggressive enough. We have contingency plans and will continue to pursue reforms that put the taxpayer first,” the spokesperson said.

While the parliamentarian ruled against this provision, a policy that would rescind funds passed by Democrats for the purchase of additional EVs and chargers by the Postal Service is allowed to remain in the bill.

—Updated at 3:11 p.m. EDT