Overview
- President Donald Trump renewed public demands that Senate Majority Leader John Thune fire Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she applied the Byrd Rule to bar several Republican provisions from a reconciliation package.
- MacDonough removed roughly $1 billion in Secret Service funding, including money tied to a White House ballroom project, and ruled the SAVE America Act ineligible for passage through reconciliation, which would force those measures to need 60 votes.
- Thune rejected Trump’s demand and defended the parliamentarian’s role as a nonpartisan referee, saying the office must be able to make rulings that affect both parties.
- Republican leaders have signaled they will try to redraft or resubmit language to meet Byrd Rule tests rather than immediately attempt to remove or override the parliamentarian.
- Coverage diverges on scope: some outlets portray the rulings as routine enforcement of Senate rules while others, notably OAN, attribute a wide set of GOP policy setbacks to MacDonough; removal of the parliamentarian would be unusual and would require broader Senate action.