The woman who could bust Trump's 'big beautiful bill'

BBC News

4 hours ago

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough may not be a household name, but the so-called referee of the Senate has found herself the centre of a firestorm after she objected to several parts of US President Donald Trump's mega-sized tax bill.The 1,000-page document, which he's dubbed the "big beautiful bill", would slash spending and extend tax cuts.But Ms MacDonough has said that certain provisions violate senate rules, throwing billions of dollars of cuts into doubt. Her findings have also made it difficult for Congress to pass the bill by 4 July - a deadline set by the president himself.Now, some Republicans are calling for the Senate to ignore her recommendations - going against long-standing tradition - or to fire her.
What is in the bill?
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a massive spending bill that included cuts to low-income health insurance programme Medicaid, reforms to the food assistance programme SNAP, and a measure to end taxes on tips and overtime pay.That version then went to the Senate, where both Republicans and Democrats wanted adjustments made. The US Senate has spent recent weeks debating changes and writing a new version of the bill.A look at the key items in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill''Our food doesn't even last the month' - Americans brace for Trump's welfare cutsLegislators are now racing against the clock to deliver the bill to Trump's desk by 4 July.Republicans maintain a majority in both the House and the Senate, which should make it easy to pass legislation. But leadership in both chambers has struggled to get consensus on a number of provisions - particularly on social programs like Medicaid - from competing factions within the party.
Who is the Senate parliamentarian?
The Senate parliamentarian's job is to decide whether a bill complies with budget rules. Ms MacDonough - the first woman to hold the role - has held the position since 2012. Before that, she spent 25 years as a Senate staffer and worked for the Justice Department.While she was appointed by former Democratic Senator Harry Reid, she has served Senates controlled by both Republicans and Democrats.In 2021, multiple Democratic legislators called on the Senate to overrule Ms MacDonough when she said a minimum wage increase could not be included in a policy bill at the time.People serving as the Senate parliamentarian have been fired before, too. In 2001, the Senate majority leader at the time fired then Senate parliamentarian, Robert Dove, after one of Dove's rulings on a bill infuriated Republicans.
What did she say about the bill?
Several of the provisions Republican senators have proposed violate the Byrd Rule, she said, which is a 1985 rule the Senate adopted that says "extraneous" provisions cannot be tacked onto "reconciliation" bills.The budget bill is a reconciliation bill, which means it does not need a 60-vote supermajority to pass the Senate. Reconciliation bills tell the government how to spend money, not how to issue policy, the Byrd rule says. Because of these rules, Republicans can avoid a Democratic filibuster on the bill and pass it with a simple majority. But as Ms MacDonough has examined the text she has found a number of places where the reconciliation bill tries to change policy. Among the provisions Ms MacDonough has ruled against is a plan that would cap states' ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding through healthcare provider taxes and a measure that would have made it harder to enforce contempt findings against the Trump administration. And more rulings could come as she continues to examine the large bill.
What are Republicans saying?
Some Republicans, like Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, are not please with her rulings and have gone as far as calling for her to be fired. "President Trump's landslide victory was a MANDATE from 77 million Americans," he wrote on X on Thursday. "The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers on that mandate. The Parliamentarian is trying to UNDERMINE the President's mandate and should be fired."Kansas Senator Roger Marshall urged his party to pass a resolution to term limit the parliamentarian. He noted in a social media post that the Senate parliamentarian was fired during reconciliation in 2001: "It's 2025 during reconciliation & we need to again fire the Senate Parliamentarian." Texas Senator John Cornyn said Republicans should not let "an unelected Senate staffer" stop the party from passing the bill.But Senate Republican Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, does not seem to agree with these calls to oust her.Thune, who is the senior most ranking senator, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday he would not overrule Ms MacDonough.Instead, he described the senate referee's rulings as "speed bumps", and said his party had other options to reach Republican-promised budget cuts, namely rewriting the bill. Thune had previously said a vote on the bill was expected on Friday, though it remains unclear if Republicans can agree on a bill to move to the floor for a vote by then.
What could happen next?
Once the bill passes the Senate, it goes back to the House for approval. Some Republicans in the House have already indicated their displeasure with the Senate's edits to the bill. After the bill passes both houses, then it can go to Trump's desk.Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, said the Trump administration is sticking by the 4 July deadline. "This is part of the process, this is part of the inner workings of the United States Senate, but the president is adamant about seeing this bill on his desk here at the White House by Independence Day," she said referring to the parliamentarian's rulings.