President Donald Trump for the first time called for the firing of the Senate’s parliamentarian, days after she rejected a Republican attempt to include money related to his proposed White House ballroom in an immigration enforcement bill.
The parliamentarian is a nonpartisan official who advises on Senate procedures. Lawyer Elizabeth MacDonough has served in the role since 2012, appointed by then-Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nevada) after 13 years as an assistant in the office.
Trump’s demand on Wednesday for her ouster did not mention the ballroom or other specific objections, but he accused her of bias.
On Saturday MacDonough determined Senate Republicans’ plan for including $1 billion for security around the East Wing construction project and other Secret Service priorities in the immigration bill did not comply with the chamber’s rules as written. Republicans revised their proposal and were awaiting a new decision on Wednesday.
“Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced?” Trump said on social media, using a pejorative for the opposition party. “Get smart and tough Republicans, or you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”
The White House declined to elaborate on Trump’s post. MacDonough did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also urged Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass his voter ID bill, which they have so far declined to do. He said the party’s future depended on firing the parliamentarian or reducing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
“If we don’t pass at least one of these two provisions quickly, you will never see another Republican President again,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has resisted Trump’s repeated calls to end the filibuster. The immigration enforcement bill that Republicans have wanted to use as a vehicle for the ballroom funding will be considered under an expedited procedure called reconciliation that requires only a simple majority for passage. But a rule named after former senator Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia) restricts that fast-track to budget items.
Asked about Trump’s demand, Thune told reporters that he hadn’t seen what Trump said but had heard about it.
“There may be some issues related to the parliamentarian, but most of the issues we have here are votes,” he said, alluding to the fact that some Republican senators oppose including the ballroom money in the bill.
Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said he did not think Senate Republicans had the votes to include security funding for Trump’s ballroom and the Secret Service in the bill even if the parliamentarian allowed it.
“This one is not the parliamentarian’s fault is my understanding,” Kennedy told reporters. “It’s the votes aren’t there, plainly and simply.”
Last year, some Republicans called for MacDonough’s firing after she struck some provisions from Trump’s signature domestic policy package. At that time, Trump did not join them.
“The parliamentarian’s been a little difficult, and I would say that I disagree with the parliamentarian on some things, and on other ways she’s been fine, but we’ll have to see,” Trump said at a White House press briefing last June.
Senate parliamentarians can be overruled by the chamber’s presiding officer or a majority vote. They have been replaced in the past by majority leaders of both parties, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
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