Apologies to anyone who thought this was obvious...
I've seen some comments here and on reddit from people on the left who think the squad managed to eliminate PAYGO. This is bad information and I'm not sure how it spread.
What progressive Democrats got was exemptions (with caveats) for measures responding to covid-19 and/or climate change. However, even for these two categories, bills are not automatically exempt from PAYGO. They still need to get it approved by the Senate which requires 60 votes. So what kind of a victory was this in the end when the establishment still has a very easy way to block any PAYGO exemptions?
If you're wondering why it's so difficult to get your measly $1400 checks and you thought PAYGO was scrapped, well now you know why. Thanks Obama
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-risk-unintended-medicare-cuts-if-they-pass-partisan-covid-n1256375
Also an exception for covid-19 is gibberish. PAYGO only applies to tax cuts or mandatory spending, i.e. spending that the next congress would have to pass a new law to prevent from recurring. It doesn't apply to discretionary spending, i.e. money allocated by congress to be spent in the same year.
Paygo is a congressional rule that says new tax cuts or mandatory spending increases must be offset by tax increases or mandatory spending cuts. It says that congress can't pass a law that increases the starting point for the deficit next year.
The only way the covid-19 exception even makes sense is if we expect to be dealing with the pandemic for the next 10 years.