Unelected Official Throws Wet Blanket On Trump’s Bill — Sending GOP Sens Scrambling

The scope of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful” bill is narrowing as Senate Majority Leader John Thune eyes a midweek vote to cement the president’s sweeping tax and immigration priorities into law.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, an appointee of the late former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has advised Senate Republicans that at least 25 provisions will have to be struck from the president’s landmark bill to comply with stringent rules governing the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process. The unelected Senate official is likely to reject more provisions in the coming days, which could force GOP senators to quickly revise portions of the bill to ensure the legislation meets Thune’s commitment to enact at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a decade.

The parliamentarian’s rulings that GOP senators cannot move forward with certain provisions of the bill under a simple majority vote threshold is a setback for some of Senate Republican’s ambitious legislative goals within the budget package. However, Thune has said that Senate Republicans were always aware that some provisions could ultimately fall out of the bill and were proactive to minimize the number of provisions that the parliamentarian could strike from the legislation.

MacDonough, who acts a de-facto referee for interpreting Senate rules, decides which provisions of Republicans’ bill complies with the Byrd rule — a process commonly referred to as a “Byrd bath” — which allows the upper chamber to budget-related legislation with 51 votes. Provisions identified by the parliamentarian as noncompliant would be subject to a 60-vote legislative threshold, effectively forcing GOP senators to strike the language from the budget package working its way through Congress.