Quick Fact: Rove falsely claims Dems are "changing the rules midstream" by using reconciliation

From the March 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: Joining me with reaction to the Democrats' latest tricks is Fox News contributor, the one and only architect, Karl Rove. Karl? All right, does the changing, shifting term -- does that help, does that work?

ROVE: No, for two reasons. First of all, I understand why they don't want to say we're changing the rules midstream, but they are. It's rather than reconciliation, they're using silly recreation. We're going to have a simple majority, let's -- blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But look, here's the bigger problem. Before the Senate would ever get a chance to use reconciliation, I think what is going to have to happen is, is that the House is going to have to pass the Senate bill. Because you can't use reconciliation in order to fix a proposal. You can only use it to fix a bill that's passed Congress.

FACT: Reconciliation is already part of Senate procedure, and Republicans have used it repeatedly

Reconciliation process is part of congressional budget process. The budget reconciliation process is defined by the U.S. House Committee on Rules as "part of the congressional budget process ... utilized when Congress issues directives to legislate policy changes in mandatory spending (entitlements) or revenue programs (tax laws) to achieve the goals in spending and revenue contemplated by the budget resolution."

Republicans repeatedly used reconciliation to pass former President Bush's agenda. Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to pass Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts as well as the 2005 "Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act." The Senate also used the procedure to pass a bill containing a provision that would permit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (The final version of that bill signed by Bush did not contain the provision on drilling.)

FACT: Reconciliation has been used to pass major changes to health care laws

Reconciliation has repeatedly been used to reform health care. On February 24, NPR noted that many "major changes to health care laws" have passed via reconciliation. These measures include COBRA, which allows laid-off workers to keep their insurance coverage, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

On NPR, Rosenbaum stated, "[T]he way in which virtually all of health reform ... has happened over the last 30 years has been the reconciliation process." Additionally, during the February 24 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition, health policy correspondent Julie Rovner quoted George Washington University professor Sara Rosenbaum saying: "In fact, the way in which virtually all of health reform, with very, very limited exceptions, has happened over the past 30 years has been the reconciliation process."