President Trump’s reconciliation package is on life support. Almost every major portion of the bill has undergone more surgeries than a transgender person at this point, and it’s due to the Democrat Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. She has applied the Byrd rule, which prevents ‘extraneous’ provisions from being logrolled during this process. These provisions now require a 60-vote threshold instead of a simple majority.
The portion that reins in rogue federal judges was sliced off, and now welfare reforms tweaks got the hatchet treatment as well. Making the Trump tax cuts permanent was also a casualty of this Democrat leech, along with immigration enforcement measures. In short, this unelected Democrat is trying to usurp the will of the people, who voted for Trump and these legislators to enact these three key legislative goals.
And speaking of transgender surgeries, this woman took a tomahawk to the tweaks we want for Medicaid. As PBS Newshour’s Lisa DeJardins noted, the ban on transgender care in Medicaid is out, along with these portions:
VERY BIG news: The Senate parliamentarian has ruled against some major OBBBA provisions.
– Medicaid provider tax freeze or cut is OUT as proposed.
– So are some ACA limits, including the proposed end to “silver-loading”
– As is the ban on transgender care in Medicaid— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) June 26, 2025
More parliamentarian rulings. These current proposals are also out:
– limiting some non-citizens from ACA tax credits
– (Big one here). Student loan repayment limits.
– Expanded Pell Grants
– Restricting cost-sharing funding for health insurance that covers abortion services— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) June 26, 2025
Needless to say, Republicans are right now trying to rewrite and reconfigure these sections to meet Senate/Byrd bath criteria.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) June 26, 2025
– Denying Medicaid to green card holders and other legal non-citizens
– Penalizing states providing health care to undocumented immigrants
– Requiring immediate proof of citizenship for Medicaid
This woman is out of control. And yes, we can fire her (via Fox News):
A Senate Republican wants to see the Senate parliamentarian fired and plans to introduce a resolution that would require the position to be term-limited.
Fury erupted among conservatives Thursday morning following the news that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled several key reforms and tweaks to Medicaid in the Senate GOP’s version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” did not pass muster with Senate rules.
That means that the current provisions that do not comply with the Byrd Rule must be stripped, but Republicans can still scramble to rewrite and resubmit the policy to the parliamentarian.
However, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., wants immediate action taken against the parliamentarian.
“In 2001, Majority Leader Trent Lott fired the Senate parliamentarian during reconciliation,” Marshall told Fox News Digital. “It’s 2025 during reconciliation, and we need to again fire the Senate parliamentarian.”
He argued that, based upon early reports, the parliamentarian’s rulings against myriad provisions in the bill may erase up to $500 billion in spending cuts, which could hamper the bill’s survival among fiscal hawks and miss the goal of hitting up to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.
The problem is that Senate Majority Leader John Thune doesn’t want to do that (via Politico):
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.”
Can someone inform the gentleman from South Dakota that we’re not going to win by playing the gentleman’s game.
