Important newsflash for the Senate GOP: the recommendations of the woke Senate parliamentarian, who is trying to ensure that absolutely no financial reform is enacted, are not binding.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he’s not going to challenge the outrageous decisions of the Senate Parliamentarian, and no doubt he’d like you to believe there’s no option otherwise. That is simply untrue. There are multiple ways of overruling the unelected Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s decisions. As voters, it’s very important we understand the legal realities of our system and not give our elected representatives a pass just because they claimed helplessness.
As The Washington Examiner explained, “The parliamentarian is merely a staffer who serves at the discretion of the Senate; any suggested ruling they make is not binding on the Senate.” She is supposed to advise the Senate on following their own rules and the laws, which, according to her, include using taxpayer dollars to fund transgender “treatments” and illegal aliens. Which is unconstitutional, of course, among many other things. But don’t just take my word or the Examiner’s — below is direct from the Library of Congress:
As a staff official, neither [House’s or Senate’s] parliamentarian is empowered to make decisions that are binding on the House or Senate. The parliamentarians and their deputies/assistants only offer advice that the presiding Representative or Senator may accept or reject; individual Members may appeal rulings.
And there you have it. Thune absolutely does not have to accept MacDonough’s rulings, and even individual senators can appeal her rulings. Vice President JD Vance can also overrule her as president of the Senate.
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And yes, her decisions are seriously problematic and should be rejected. As just a single example, Breitbart reported June 26:
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough …ruled the Medicaid provider tax would require 60 votes in the Senate to be included in the Big Beautiful Bill. The Senate parliamentarian’s ruling complicates the offsets for enhancing and extending the Trump tax cuts…The parliamentarian also struck down provisions that would bar the use of Medicaid funds for transgender healthcare services and to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid or CHIP healthcare coverage.
That’s not all MacDonough did. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized her, “The Senate parliamentarian, you know, ruled out any kind of elimination of benefits for illegal aliens. So we have basically an unelected… person works in the Senate has now decided that she can decide for the country that we can’t eliminate welfare for illegal aliens.” Since when do we have to give illegals student loans and SNAP benefits?
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Congressional Republicans have a tendency to back down from vitally important fights they can win. Thune doesn’t have to obey the decisions that MacDonough has made, and other Republican senators can appeal her decisions. America simply cannot afford to keep wasting money we don’t have on utterly unconstitutional and unjustifiable woke programs and foreign lawbreakers.
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