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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump allies call for Senate parliamentarian to be removed. Who is Elizabeth MacDonough?
WASHINGTON - Republican are calling for the Senate's parliamentarian to be fired after she ruled that several Medicaid provisions must be taken out of President Donald Trump's tax, spending and policy bill, spelling trouble for the president and his party as they try to get the legislation signed into law by a self-imposed July 4 deadline. The chamber's leading rules expert, Elizabeth MacDonough, sided on June 26 against the inclusion of provisions that the GOP wanted to put in the bill aimed at reducing spending on Medicaid by requiring work from able-bodied adults and denying access to non-citizens. That didn't go over well with deficit hawks trying to secure for Trump his biggest legislative win of his second term. 'This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP. Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville wrote on X. Republican Reps. Greg Steube of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Dan Crenshaw of Texas also called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire MacDonough. 'I don't think it's good strategy to die on every hill, but THIS is a hill we should fight for,' Crenshaw wrote on X. For now, it appears MacDonough's job is secure: Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters the GOP had no plans to overrule its parliamentarian, let alone fire her. Still, it's not the first time MacDonough has faced partisan pushback in Congress. Democrats have also railed against her decisions when they held the White House. MacDonough is the first female parliamentarian of the Senate, a role that then-Majority Leader Harry Reid promoted her to in 2012. The parliamentarian's responsibilities include advising senators and other staff about the chamber's rules and statutes, and managing the process of referring bills to committees, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. When Congress aims to pass budget reconciliation bills, such as the one being negotiated in the Senate, the parliamentarian can strike out any provisions that are extraneous and non-budgetary in nature under a process known as 'Byrd Bath,' named after the late-Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia. Though MacDonough is rarely one of the most visible figures on Capitol Hill, she can be the most crucial at times. In 2021, for instance, Democrats complained after she ruled that they couldn't include a provision to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in an economic stimulus bill then-President Joe Biden was pushing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MacDonough also advised Chief Justice John Roberts during both of Trump's Senate impeachment trials, including the one that came in response to rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. MacDonough's office was ransacked during the melee and, according to The New York Times, she returned to work days after the attack wearing a hazmat suit. Asked on June 26 if Trump agreed with the calls from inside the GOP to remove the Senate parliamentarian, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied that she hasn't spoken to Trump about the topic. 'He knows this is part of the process and the inner-workings of the Senate,' Leavitt said. 'He wants to see this bill done. He remains very much engaged in these conversations and in this process with lawmakers in both the Senate and the House side, and the whole White House does as well.' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is the Senate parliamentarian that some Republicans want fired?
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP senator calls for Senate parliamentarian to be fired after ruling against Medicaid cuts
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) on Thursday called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to fire Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough 'ASAP,' hours after she delivered a major ruling against a Republican proposal to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid spending to help pay for President Trump's tax agenda. The parliamentarian also ruled against provisions to prohibit federal funding of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for adults or kids whose immigration status cannot be immediately verified and to lower federal Medicaid funding for states that provide Medicaid coverage to immigrants in the country illegally. '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. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP,' Tuberville posted on the social platform X. 'Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' he said. Tuberville posted his comments publicly around the same time that Thune told reporters that he would not attempt to overrule the parliamentarian with a simple-majority vote on the floor. A Senate GOP source familiar with the parliamentarian's ruling on Medicaid eligibility and health care provider taxes said Republicans will try to rework the provisions to keep them in the massive bill. 'We'll continue our work and find a solution to achieve the desired results. Also, this is not as fatal as Dems are portraying it to be,' the source said. Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.) told reporters Thursday that he doesn't think the GOP leadership would attempt to oust MacDonough from the parliamentarian's office, asserting Republicans 'respect' her rulings. 'I don't think that will happen,' he said. 'We all have respect for the parliamentarian. I think that she's very fair, and I don't think that she should be fired nor do I think she will be fired.' Thune told reporters Thursday morning that he would not push a vote to overrule the parliamentarian. 'That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,' he said. Thune said he doesn't view the parliamentarian's ruling against the biggest spending cut in the bill as necessarily fatal to getting the legislation passed. 'We were obviously trying to get as much in terms of savings as we could. We pushed hard to try and achieve that, and we knew that it was going to be an interesting conversation and we didn't know for sure how she was going to come down on it,' he said. 'There are things we can do. There are other ways of getting to that same outcome. We may not have everything that we wanted in terms of the provider tax reforms, but if we can get most of the reforms there, get the savings that come with it — this is all about saving the taxpayers money,' Thune said. Senate Republicans are using budget reconciliations rules to pass their bill so they can get around a Senate filibuster, which would otherwise allow Democrats to block the measure. The parliamentarian is charged with determining whether parts of the bill comply with the Byrd rule, which requires provisions in a budget reconciliation measure to pass a multi-part test including that they are primarily budgetary in nature. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appointed MacDonough in January 2012 to serve as parliamentarian. She is the first woman to serve in the role. She is the sixth Senate parliamentarian, and worked in the parliamentarian's office for nearly a decade before she was tapped to replace Alan Frumin. Al Weaver contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump bill hits Senate buzzsaw
Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough dealt a blow to President Trump's agenda bill Thursday, rejecting a key Medicaid provision that was central to GOP efforts to cut federal spending. Republicans had planned to cap states' use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding as a means of offsetting the costs of making Trump's tax cuts permanent. The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports: 'The cap on health care provider taxes in both states that expanded Medicaid and did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act was projected to save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years, but it would have forced states to shoulder substantially more of the cost for Medicaid coverage.' MacDonough does not decide what goes into legislation, but determines whether the text adheres to Senate rules around the filibuster. The GOP hopes to pass the reconciliation bill with a 51-vote majority, but MacDonough's ruling means that if the Medicaid provision is included, the bill would need 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster. At the moment, Republicans are having a hard enough time scrounging up a simple majority. The Medicaid provision was divisive and had received strong pushback from a handful of Senate Republicans, who warned it would lead to rural hospital closures. The ruling sent Republicans scrambling for additional federal spending cuts, with fiscal hawks in both chambers vowing to oppose the bill over debt levels. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he would not overrule the parliamentarian. 'No, that would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,' Thune told reporters, saying he believes they'll be able to suss out additional savings elsewhere. 'These are … short-term setbacks,' he added. 'Speed bumps, if you will. We're focused on the goal.' REPUBLICANS FUME Not all Republicans reacted with Thune's level of restraint. '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,' Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) posted on X. 'This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.' 'Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE,' he added. 'Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP.' Hardline conservatives in the House joined in the criticism, urging the Senate to overrule the parliamentarian, which would be a major departure from protocol. 'It is time for our elected leaders to take back control,' Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) posted on X. '@JDVance should overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country.' The White House declined to address the parliamentarian's ruling, although Trump is expected to address it this evening at an event meant to pressure lawmakers to back the 'big, beautiful bill.' Trump will host 'everyday Americans' at the White House to highlight how the bill will help working class people and law enforcement, including tipped workers and border patrol agents. The White House said the setback shouldn't alter the timeline for passage. 'We expect that bill to be on the president's desk for signature by July 4,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'This is part of the process, part of the inner working of the United States Senate, but the president is adamant about seeing this bill on his desk here at the White House by Independence Day.' 💡Perspectives: • HuffPost: Republicans rush to pass a bill they don't like. • Ro Khanna: Congress must take back its war powers. • CommonPlace: Three things that weren't supposed to happen, but did. Read more: • SALT Republican rejects latest offer from Senate GOP, White House. • Senate GOP battle over rural hospital relief fund to offset Medicaid cuts. • Graham overrides Paul's border wall, immigration enforcement proposal. • White House stablecoin push collides with efforts to tie crypto bills. • House GOP passes first funding bill of fiscal 2026. The Supreme Court will release decisions on all six remaining cases tomorrow, including on birthright citizenship and opt-outs for classroom discussions of LGBTQ issues. The high court ruled Thursday that states can cut off Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood. House Republicans investigating former President Biden's mental fitness while in office subpoenaed testimony from Anthony Bernal, who was a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden. The Defense Department is establishing two additional military zones along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to further crack down on unlawful migrant crossings. © AP Photo/Alex Brandon Dan 'Razin'' Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed reporters Thursday on the U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, as the Trump administration continues to push back on media characterizations of a preliminary intelligence assessment that suggested the strike may not have been a total success. Caine said 15 years of planning by PhD-level military officials acting as the 'biggest users of supercomputer hours' designed the strikes and that that the bunker-buster bombs dropped on Iran's Fordow nuclear site 'functioned as designed.' 'The weapons all guided to their intended targets,' Caine said. Asked if he had been pressured or would bow to pressure from the White House to paint a rosier assessment of the strikes, Caine responded: 'No, I have not. And I would not.' The White House embarked on a third day of battling with the media, after several news outlets reported on a preliminary assessment that said the strikes may have only set Iran's nuclear program back by months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said information from that preliminary report was leaked to the media with 'gaps of information.' He said the 'low-confidence' report was not coordinated with the Intelligence Community, which will needs weeks to make a final assessment. He said the media did not report that the assessment also said 'severe damage' was a possible outcome from the strikes. Hegseth blasted the press, including a reporter from Fox News, his old employer. 'You, the press, you cheer against Trump so hard, it's in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,' Hegseth said. 'You have to hope maybe they weren't effective.' Hegseth on Thursday cited new assessments from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, all of whom reported that Iran's nuclear facilities suffered major damage. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, determined that the Fordow uranium enrichment plant is 'no longer an operational facility.' Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), a close ally to Israel, posted on X: 'To those who were 'unimpressed' or borderline gloating on a leak: Operation Midnight Hammer worked. I've been calling for and fully supported those strikes, and it made the world safer. It should transcend partisan politics.' MEANWHILE… The Trump administration, furious over the leak, will limit the amount of classified information it shares with Congress going forward. 'This administration wants to be sure that classified information is not ending up in irresponsible hands and that people who have the privilege of viewing this top secret classified information are being responsible with it,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, blasted both the leak and the clampdown on intelligence sharing. 'The leak of classified information is unacceptable and should be fully investigated and those responsible held accountable,' Himes said. 'It's also unacceptable for the Administration to use unsubstantiated speculation about the source of a leak to justify cutting off Congress from classified intelligence reporting, particularly when over a million people within the Executive Branch have clearance to access classified top-secret reporting.' The FBI is investigating the leak, which Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called 'treasonous.' 💡Perspectives: • The Hill: Trump is a disruptor — but for good or for ill? • BBC: Iran's supreme leader finds a very different nation. • The Nation: The math that gave us Trump. • Chronicles: Conservative media must engage with the culture. Read more: • Satellite images reveal new signs of damage at Iranian nuclear sites. • Rubio fleshes out Trump's case that Iran nuclear capacity was eliminated. • Iranian 'sleeper cells': What to know about US warnings. • Unpacking the conflicting assessments on Iran strikes. • Questions around success of Iran strikes spark fears on Capitol Hill. © PAP Photo/Heather Khalifa Democrats are wrestling with the meaning of Zoharan Mamdani's shocking upset victory in the Democratic primary to be mayor of New York City, with progressives holding it up as evidence of how a populist left-wing message can resonate with voters during President Trump's second term. Mamdani, a 33-year old democratic socialist, took down former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in the primary, a sea change moment in New York politics. Progressives are suddenly feeling triumphant after a brutal 2024 cycle that saw them lose several members of Congress. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said former Vice President Harris would've defeated Trump in the 2024 presidential election if she'd used Mamdani's playbook of focusing on the economic needs of the middle class. 'Instead of taking money from billionaires and putting stupid ads on television… you mobilize thousands and thousands of people around the progressive agenda that speaks to the needs of working-class people and you go out and you knock on doors,' Sanders said. 'And if somebody like a Kamala Harris had not listened to her consultants and done that, she would be president of the United States today.' Mamdani also benefitted from being a charismatic and social media-savvy candidate who resonated with young people agitating for generational and ideological change within the Democratic Party. However, centrist Democrats have expressed alarm, certain that Mamdani's leftist agenda is a national loser for the party in the long-term. 'The baggage and the danger of some of the ideas that he espouses and does so proudly, even in the final stretch of his campaign, is something that Democrats have to recognize is going to be deeply problematic in the places that we are going to need to win to take back the House,' Kate deGruyter, the senior director of communications for the center-left think tank Third Way, told The Hill. There's also the matter of Mamdani's anti-Israel activism — and his defense of the term 'globalize the intifada' — which some Jewish Democrats see as antisemitic. Republicans see Mamdani as a gift and plan to highlight his progressive agenda, which includes city-run grocery stores and rent freezes. 'It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor,' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous.' Mamdani responded to Trump: 'I encourage him — just like I encourage every New Yorker — to learn about my actual policies to make the city affordable,' Mamdani told ABC News's Rachel Scott in an interview. Mamdani could face a crowded field in the general election, with Cuomo 'assessing' a potential independent run, current New York City Mayor Eric Adams launching his independent reelection bid on Thursday, and Republican Curtis Sliwa all potentially in the race. Also on Thursday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, launched his reelection bid for a third term. MEANWHILE… The Pew Research Center released its analysis of the 2024 election. The University of Virginia's Center for Politics writes: 'The biggest shifts to Donald Trump came among nonwhite voters and that men moved more toward Trump than women… One striking finding came among the roughly 10% of the electorate made up of naturalized citizens: They voted only narrowly for Kamala Harris after backing Joe Biden by about 20 points…The Democratic presidential coalition is still much more racially diverse than the Republican coalition, but the difference between the two has lessened over the course of Trump's three elections.' 💡Perspectives: • The Hill: The limits of culturally radical populism. • The Free Press: Making sense of Mamdani. • BIG: What Mamdani means for the anti-monopoly movement. • Vox: What Democrats can (and can't) learn from Mamdani's triumph. • Fox News: Democrat bus heading off the cliff, as NYC socialists hit gas pedal. Read more: • Colleges nervously await Trump-Harvard deal. • US economy shrunk faster than expected, new data shows. • Trump considers naming next Fed Chair early in bid to undermine Powell. Someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up to get your own copy: See you next time!
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump allies call for Senate parliamentarian to be removed. Who is Elizabeth MacDonough?
Republicans want Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to be fired over her ruling on Medicaid. Democrats have been mad at her before too. WASHINGTON - Republican are calling for the Senate's parliamentarian to be fired after she ruled that several Medicaid provisions must be taken out of President Donald Trump's tax, spending and policy bill, spelling trouble for the president and his party as they try to get the legislation signed into law by a self-imposed July 4 deadline. The chamber's leading rules expert, Elizabeth MacDonough, sided on June 26 against the inclusion of provisions that the GOP wanted to put in the bill aimed at reducing spending on Medicaid by requiring work from able-bodied adults and denying access to non-citizens. That didn't go over well with deficit hawks trying to secure for Trump his biggest legislative win of his second term. 'This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP. Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville wrote on X. Republican Reps. Greg Steube of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Dan Crenshaw of Texas also called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire MacDonough. 'I don't think it's good strategy to die on every hill, but THIS is a hill we should fight for,' Crenshaw wrote on X. For now, it appears MacDonough's job is secure: Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters the GOP had no plans to overrule its parliamentarian, let alone fire her. Still, it's not the first time MacDonough has faced partisan pushback in Congress. Democrats have also railed against her decisions when they held the White House. Who is Elizabeth MacDonough? MacDonough is the first female parliamentarian of the Senate, a role that then-Majority Leader Harry Reid promoted her to in 2012. The parliamentarian's responsibilities include advising senators and other staff about the chamber's rules and statutes, and managing the process of referring bills to committees, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. When Congress aims to pass budget reconciliation bills, such as the one being negotiated in the Senate, the parliamentarian can strike out any provisions that are extraneous and non-budgetary in nature under a process known as 'Byrd Bath,' named after the late-Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia. Though MacDonough is rarely one of the most visible figures on Capitol Hill, she can be the most crucial at times. In 2021, for instance, Democrats complained after she ruled that they couldn't include a provision to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in an economic stimulus bill then-President Joe Biden was pushing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MacDonough also advised Chief Justice John Roberts during both of Trump's Senate impeachment trials, including the one that came in response to rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. MacDonough's office was ransacked during the melee and, according to The New York Times, she returned to work days after the attack wearing a hazmat suit. Asked on June 26 if Trump agreed with the calls from inside the GOP to remove the Senate parliamentarian, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied that she hasn't spoken to Trump about the topic. 'He knows this is part of the process and the inner-workings of the Senate,' Leavitt said. 'He wants to see this bill done. He remains very much engaged in these conversations and in this process with lawmakers in both the Senate and the House side, and the whole White House does as well.'
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP senator calls for Senate parliamentarian to be fired after ruling against Medicaid cuts
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) on Thursday called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to fire Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough 'ASAP,' hours after she delivered a major ruling against a Republican proposal to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid spending to help pay for President Trump's tax agenda. The parliamentarian also ruled against provisions to prohibit federal funding of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for adults or kids whose immigration status cannot be immediately verified and to lower federal Medicaid funding for states that provide Medicaid coverage to immigrants in the country illegally. '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. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP,' Tuberville posted on X, the social media site. 'Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' he said. Tuberville posted his comments publicly around the same time that Thune told reporters that he would not attempt to overrule the parliamentarian with a simple-majority vote on the floor. A Senate GOP source familiar with the parliamentarian's ruling on Medicaid eligibility and health care provider taxes said that Republicans will try to rework the provisions to keep them in the massive bill. 'We'll continue our work and find a solution to achieve the desired results. Also, this is not as fatal as Dems are portraying it to be,' the source said. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appointed MacDonough in January of 2012 to serve as parliamentarian. She is the first woman to serve in the role. She is the sixth Senate parliamentarian, and worked in the parliamentarian's office for nearly a decade before she was tapped to replace Alan Frumin.
