CNN
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For more than a dozen years and multiple changes in Senate control, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has been the chamber’s referee, acting as a nonpartisan enforcer of its rules and precedents in what’s typically a behind-the-scenes, advisory role.
But some Republicans publicly lambasted MacDonough — with a few calling for her ouster — this week after she advised that some key money-saving policies couldn’t be included in their massive tax and domestic policy bill, complicating passage of the measure that includes much of President Donald Trump’s agenda ahead of the Fourth of July deadline the president has set.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said MacDonough’s rejection of some of the bill’s provisions, most importantly one that would have forced states to shoulder more of the Medicaid funding burden, “seems politically motivated.” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said on X she “SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP.”
Other GOP senators came to MacDonough’s defense, insisting that — while they might disagree with some of her rulings — they would abide by them, rather than seeking a vote to overrule them.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he had “no intention” of trying to overrule the parliamentarian. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said he “just can’t imagine” Republicans would have enough votes to do so in a chamber where they hold 53 seats.
“We’re not going to throw the parliamentarian under the bus,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
MacDonough’s office declined CNN’s request to comment.
The focus on the Senate parliamentarian comes as Republicans try to shepherd the massive bill to passage using special budgetary rules that require a simple majority of 51 votes — shielding it from a Democratic filibuster.
The Senate parliamentarian is a nonpartisan position that was created in the 1930s. In the role, MacDonough, the first woman to serve as parliamentarian, is tasked with advising the chamber on how its rules, protocols and precedents should be applied.
That includes advising senators in a bill-review process known as a “Byrd Bath” — named for former longtime West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd — when they are looking to use Senate budget rules to pass a bill with a simple majority. Typically, senators are prohibited from using such a bill to advance provisions that aren’t related to spending or taxes.
Democrats have fumed at MacDonough in the past, as well. In 2021, she ruled they could not include a federal minimum wage increase in President Joe Biden’s pandemic-era stimulus bill. She also rejected Democrats’ efforts to include immigration reforms.
Lawmakers have largely been hesitant to overrule MacDonough because doing so would further chip away at the filibuster — perhaps the most powerful tool minority parties have on Capitol Hill. Democrats voted to overrule MacDonough in 2013 to eliminate filibusters, requiring a simple majority vote rather than a 60-vote supermajority, to approve presidential nominees. Republicans did so in 2017 to similarly eliminate filibusters of Supreme Court nominees.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday offered no indication the Senate would seek to overrule MacDonough in this case.
”Everything is challenging, but they’re all speed bumps,” he told reporters. “We have contingency plans, plan B and plan C. We’ll continue to litigate it.”
MacDonough was appointed to the Senate parliamentarian role in 2012 by Sen. Harry Reid, the late Nevada Democrat who was the majority leader at the time. She replaced Alan Frumin, who retired that year after serving in the role for 18 years.
After attending George Washington University and Vermont Law School, MacDonough started her career working in the Senate library and later as an editor for the Congressional Record. She later worked for the Justice Department, and then joined the Senate parliamentarian’s office as an assistant in 1999.
Her first major task was helping to advise then-Vice President Al Gore on the Senate procedure for counting ballots in his 2000 presidential election against George W. Bush.
She quickly rose in ranks after then-Senate parliamentarian Robert Dove was dismissed from the job by Republican leaders in 2001 and Frumin was promoted to the top position.
“While serving its 100 members on a day-to-day basis, I still represent the Senate. No matter who’s in my office asking for assistance, I represent the Senate with its traditions of unfettered debate, protection of minority rights, and equal power among the states,” MacDonough said during a commencement speech at Vermont Law School in 2018, adding, “That Senate is my charge.”
In her time in office, MacDonough also advised on the two impeachment trials of Trump during his first term. MacDonough was seen regularly whispering guidance to Chief Justice John Roberts as he presided over Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial.
On January 6, 2021, the Senate parliamentarian’s office was ransacked by pro-Trump rioters who sought to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. As the rioters stormed the US Capitol, members of MacDonough’s staff safeguarded the electoral votes during the siege, according to Capitol Hill reports.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
