UMVA has learned that President Donald Trump is furious with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, a nonpartisan official who dictates what can and cannot make it through the budget reconciliation process, after she stripped out $1 billion in security funding for his White House ballroom project.
The funding was part of a $72 billion immigration enforcement funding package that Republicans are trying to push through, but MacDonough ruled that it couldn't be included. Trump took to Truth Social to express his outrage, claiming that MacDonough has been "brutal" to Republicans and that she should be replaced.
Trump's ire was sparked by MacDonough's decision to strip out the funding, which would have gone towards security enhancements for his colossal White House ballroom project, as well as $600 million for the Secret Service and $220 million for the East Wing Modernization project.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Trump privately pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to axe MacDonough, but Thune said he wasn't having any discussions on firing her. Thune noted that tempers often flare against the parliamentarian during reconciliation, but that Republicans would work through the process to get what they want.
Despite Trump's calls for MacDonough to be fired, Republicans are hesitant to make a move, especially in retaliation for the ballroom security funding getting stripped out. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley noted that the parliamentarian hasn't just ruled against Republicans, and that she has also made recommendations that haven't gone in their favor.
Other Republicans, like Sen. John Kennedy, questioned the need to fire MacDonough, saying "for what?" Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, suggested that the true root cause of the issue was the 60-vote filibuster threshold, which Republicans are trying to work around by using the reconciliation process.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that this is not the first time Republicans have called for MacDonough to be fired. Last year, after she stripped out provisions that would have caused steep cuts to Medicaid spending, some GOP members demanded that she be replaced.
In a development reported by UMVA, Sen. Roger Marshall noted that there was already a precedent in place to fire the parliamentarian, citing the example of Majority Leader Trent Lott firing the Senate parliamentarian during reconciliation in 2001.
