Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday the Senate would not move to overrule its parliamentarian after she advised that including key provisions in the GOP’s domestic-policy megabill would expose it to a fatal Democratic filibuster.
After the decisions were publicized Thursday, multiple conservative Republicans called on the Senate to sideline Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. But when asked by POLITICO about overruling her, Thune said, “No, that would not be a good option for getting a bill done.”
The rulings from MacDonough affected several major pieces of the GOP plan, including a provision that would crack down on provider taxes that states used to fund their Medicaid programs as well as measures meant to exclude undocumented residents from public benefits. Republicans are expected to try to rewrite the provisions in hopes of winning MacDonough’s blessing.
“How is it that an unelected swamp bureaucrat, who was appointed by Harry Reid over a decade ago, gets to decide what can and cannot go in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill?” wrote Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) on X.
“The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens,” added Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), also on X. “This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.”
MacDonough’s rulings are crucial because Senate Republicans are seeking to use special budget reconciliation rules to avoid a Democratic filibuster and pass the bill on party lines; those rules limit such bills to strictly fiscal-related matters.
While the parliamentarian serves only as an adviser to the Senate’s presiding officer and can be overruled — or fired — members generally heed her guidance out of a bipartisan desire to preserve the filibuster for most legislation and to otherwise observe the Senate’s norms. Recently, Thune took pains to arrange a Senate vote overruling an EPA decision on California emissions standards in such a way that MacDonough would not be directly overruled.
MacDonough, who has spent more than 25 years as a Senate staffer and served as parliamentarian under both Republican and Democratic majorities since 2012, has been the subject of controversy virtually any time senators have sought to use the party-line reconciliation process. Multiple Democratic lawmakers, for instance, called on the Senate to overrule her in 2021 after she advised that a minimum wage increase could not be included in their then-pending domestic policy bill.
