It's laughable to think an unelected person can dictate what legislators can legislate.
Ms. MacDonough has advised the Senate on procedural matters since Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her in 2012. Although she holds a nonpartisan position, it’s hard not to play favorites when implementing a legal standard that’s as vague and convoluted as the Byrd Rule.
The rule is designed to ensure that budget reconciliation measures, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, contain only proposals altering government outlays or revenue. Inclusion in these thousand-page legislative vehicles is critical because a reconciliation can clear the chamber with a simple majority. Just about everything else requires 60 votes to evade a filibuster, and Republicans have only 53 seats.
Under the Byrd Rule, any senator can object to an “extraneous” provision that doesn’t meet the criteria laid out by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the late Democratic leader and exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. The parliamentarian makes the initial call on suitability.
Ms. MacDonough’s decisions regarding President Trump’s top priorities have raised concerns about her objectivity. She rejected a section that would make it more difficult for federal judges to impose nationwide injunctions. It does so by forcing anyone suing the administration to post a bond covering the full cost to the public of carrying out the judicial decree.
Because Democratic-appointed district court magistrates have issued several hundred orders against Mr. Trump in the past few months, this undoubtedly would be a significant revenue generator. What’s more, it’s not new. Federal rules already demand such bonds. The only change to existing practice is a line preventing activist judges from flouting the law by setting the bond at $100.
The parliamentarian also put a fee for unions to use federal buildings and a prohibition on giving food stamps to illegal aliens on the chopping block. Ms. MacDonough intercepted a stipulation encouraging new federal employees to contribute more to their retirement, and she rescued public-sector unions from having to pay rent when using government office space and taxpayer resources.
GOP leaders must not let Senate parliamentarian MacDonough derail agenda
An unelected functionary wields enormous influence over the fate of major legislation. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, is using her clout to veto key elements of the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That needs to stop.Ms. MacDonough has advised the Senate on procedural matters since Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her in 2012. Although she holds a nonpartisan position, it’s hard not to play favorites when implementing a legal standard that’s as vague and convoluted as the Byrd Rule.
The rule is designed to ensure that budget reconciliation measures, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, contain only proposals altering government outlays or revenue. Inclusion in these thousand-page legislative vehicles is critical because a reconciliation can clear the chamber with a simple majority. Just about everything else requires 60 votes to evade a filibuster, and Republicans have only 53 seats.
Under the Byrd Rule, any senator can object to an “extraneous” provision that doesn’t meet the criteria laid out by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the late Democratic leader and exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. The parliamentarian makes the initial call on suitability.
Ms. MacDonough’s decisions regarding President Trump’s top priorities have raised concerns about her objectivity. She rejected a section that would make it more difficult for federal judges to impose nationwide injunctions. It does so by forcing anyone suing the administration to post a bond covering the full cost to the public of carrying out the judicial decree.
Because Democratic-appointed district court magistrates have issued several hundred orders against Mr. Trump in the past few months, this undoubtedly would be a significant revenue generator. What’s more, it’s not new. Federal rules already demand such bonds. The only change to existing practice is a line preventing activist judges from flouting the law by setting the bond at $100.
The parliamentarian also put a fee for unions to use federal buildings and a prohibition on giving food stamps to illegal aliens on the chopping block. Ms. MacDonough intercepted a stipulation encouraging new federal employees to contribute more to their retirement, and she rescued public-sector unions from having to pay rent when using government office space and taxpayer resources.