At odds over Trump's tax bill, some Senate Republicans turn on chamber's referee

By Bo Erickson and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Struggling to agree on a path forward for President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, some U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday turned their anger on the referee charged with ensuring that lawmakers follow their own rules.

That pushback came in response to Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's ruling that some Medicaid policies Republicans are trying to include in the bill do not align with the special budget process the party is using to bypass the chamber's regular vote threshold, which requires 60 of the 100 senators to agree on legislation.

"THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,” Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville posted online, "This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP."

Tuberville, a first-term senator who is running for Alabama governor, and Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas joined a vocal group of House of Representatives Republicans calling for the ouster of MacDonough, the first woman to hold this role since it was formalized in 1935.

Theirs is a minority view. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune for months has said his party will abide by the parliamentarian's guidance. MacDonough's office did not respond to a request for comment.

This is not the first time members of the current Republican congressional majority have attempted to ignore Congress's nonpartisan arbiters. A growing number of Republican senators have ignored the cost estimates of the bill from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated a price tag with interest costs around $3 trillion.

The bill's hefty cost has exposed divides within the party, with some hardline deficit hawks demanding deep cuts to social programs including Medicaid to try to limit the bill's cost, and others warning that those cuts could imperil their narrow majorities in the 2026 midterm elections.

MacDonough, a former lawyer, joined the Senate parliamentarian's office in 1999, serving as the head parliamentarian for the last 13 years.

MacDonough's critics have dismissed her as "unelected," but it was Congress more than 50 years ago that established the parliamentarian as the referee for the special process known as "budget reconciliation" that bypasses the normal Senate filibuster rule.

BYPASSING THE PARTISAN DIVIDE

Republicans are pursuing this route -- which they relied on to pass Trump's tax cuts in 2017 during his first term -- because of their narrow majorities in both chambers. Democrats also used the process to pass legislation under President Joe Biden.

Some Republicans suggested that MacDonough's ruling had political motives, noting that she was appointed by a Democratic majority leader in 2012. In this position, the parliamentarian is not weighing the merits of the policies, but rather if they fit into the budget reconciliation rules and precedent.

MacDonough in 2021 blocked Democratic efforts to pass minimum wage and immigration provisions in the special budget process.

This is not the first time this year the parliamentarian has weighed in on the Republicans' tax and budget bill, but the Medicaid and healthcare provisions that she advised on Thursday were seen as opportunities for Republicans to save money in the package that is forecast to add to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt.

Other Senate Republicans are standing by the process and MacDonough.

“I consider the parliamentarian to be a straight shooter. So I don't think there's anything more than it not meeting the standard,” Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told reporters.

“Nah, never overrule the parliamentarian," Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters on Thursday.

Senate Republicans are allowed to tweak these provisions to try to fit the specific budget process precedents and rules, or they could abandon these provisions entirely.

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the budget committee's top Democrat, pledged his party will continue "to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers."

Firing a Senate parliamentarian is not without precedent. In 2001 during President George W. Bush's administration, Senate Republican leaders with an evenly divided chamber dismissed the parliamentarian after rulings on the party's budget and tax legislation regarding natural disaster funding.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson and David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)