By DAVE PECK | DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION
Key parts of the Senate budget proposal containing vast swathes of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda are on the chopping block — and more provisions could be in danger of being struck from the final bill.
The reason for elimination is not a lack of GOP votes nor obstruction from Senate Democrats, but Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, whom many observers have long viewed as one of the most powerful unelected officials in Washington.
The nonpartisan MacDonough, whom late former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid appointed in 2012, is beginning to issue a spate of rulings to determine which provisions of the Senate draft are eligible to be included in Trump’s “one big, beautiful” bill.
MacDonough on Thursday advised that Senate Republicans would have to strike an array of banking and environmental-related provisions from their budget proposal that sought to deliver on key planks of the president’s agenda. The parliamentarian nixed GOP measures to roll back a Biden-era electric vehicle mandate and eliminate funding for an agency regulating the financial services industry that was the brainchild of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
MacDonough serves as a de-facto referee in the upper chamber to interpret Senate rules and her duties include determining which provisions meet the strict requirements governing the budget reconciliation process. Senate Republicans are using the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to pass the president’s budget bill by a simple majority vote, effectively allowing GOP senators to circumvent Democratic opposition.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is racing to pass the president’s tax and spending bill as early as Wednesday, and MacDonough is expected to play an outsized role in shaping the final product. Provisions that are ruled ineligible for the budget reconciliation process would have to pass the upper chamber by 60 votes, effectively giving Senate Democrats a say to block the provisions from passing in the Senate.
Senate Democrats have challenged key provisions of the GOP proposal as violating the stringent budget reconciliation rules that require each provision to impact spending or revenue — in an effort to nix the measures from the president’s budget package. MacDonough, who will provide guidance on which provisions comply with the budget reconciliation process, has begun to rule in Democrats’ favor on several topics, according to Senate Budget Committee Democrats.
The parliamentarian’s guidance threatens to infuriate GOP senators advocating for certain priorities to be included in the final bill and please Senate Democrats attempting to strike as many provisions from the bill as possible.
“As much as Senate Republicans would prefer to throw out the rule book and advance their families lose and billionaires win agenda, there are rules that must be followed and Democrats are making sure those rules are enforced,” Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the budget panel, said in a statement Thursday night.
MacDonough ruled Thursday that the Senate Banking Committee cannot eliminate funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and reduce the pay of certain Federal Reserve employees among other provisions. The parliamentarian’s guidance follows Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) moving to dismantle the CFPB during the first 100 days of his presidency.
The Banking panel’s provisions were projected to save taxpayers nearly $9 billion over a 10-year period. The panel is required to cut at least $1 billion in spending over the next decade and is expected to rewrite their title of the budget bill in order to achieve enough spending reduction.
“I remain committed to advancing legislation that cuts waste and duplication in our federal government and saves taxpayer dollars,” Banking panel chairman Tim Scott wrote in a statement. “My colleagues and I remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB and will continue working with the Senate parliamentarian on the Committee’s provisions.”
MacDonough took aim at several environmental provisions within the Senate’s draft proposal, including a proposal to give projects fast-tracked permitting reviews. She also ruled that a provision repealing a Biden Environmental Protection Agency regulation that would have mandatedthat roughly 67% of new cars sold after model year 2032 be electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrids is ineligible to be incorporated in the Senate budget bill.
Trump pledged to end all Biden-era regulations pushing electric vehicles on consumers during the campaign and GOP lawmakers have sought to rescind the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation in an effort to deliver on that promise.
MacDonough also advised that a provision repealing funding authorizations under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act violates the budget reconciliation process. The Biden EPA notably doled out billions in IRA funds to left-wing activist groups that advocated for open borders and defunding the U.S. military and glorified Hamas’ October 7th attacks against Israel.
The parliamentarian has yet to review provisions of the budget bill that enact a permanent extension of the president’s 2017 tax cuts and impose a moratorium on states’ regulation of artificial intelligence.
Trump has asked Congress to pass the budget bill quickly so he can sign the proposal into law by July 4.
Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.
Why is it that when the corrupt unethical democrats are in the majority, they do as they want. Why is it when the spineless Republicans are in the majority, the democrats do as they want?
Because it has been a one party rule regime for decades, and we in the public go along with the charade, pretending we have a more or less Constitutional governance framework and the citizens retain the ultimate power over their own government.
Presidents come and go, but the permanent government retains power and the core themes of foreign and domestic agendas remain constant.
It is amusing to see and hear the impotent antics and outrage of many lashing out at foreign regimes, as though we ourselves are a “free” people. Or lambasting the Dems, which is an utterly corrupt organization, but unfortunately many still think the GOP is a distinct refuge for conservative and simply cogent citizens who yearn for a non corrupt and competent government.
Because most Republicans are Democrats
“She also ruled that a provision repealing a Biden Environmental Protection Agency regulation that would have mandated that roughly 67% of new cars sold after model year 2032 be electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrids is ineligible to be incorporated in the Senate budget bill.”
How is it that she can force a mandate like that in a country that’s supposed to be about free trade and capitalism?
Maybe Republicans need to add provisions to change the budget reconciliation process as well.
When Chuck Schumer was Majority leader he fought like a junkyard dog for his party’s goals. Bipartisanship went out the window as Chuck scratched clawed and bit relentlessly for his side. Now I have a question for everyone: where’s our Chuck Schumer?
Because they leave a slimey fox in the hen house appointed by the ever more slimey Harry Reid, as a legacy to watchout for the democrat interests. They can’t have a a level playng field, but must invent ways to tip the scales. Roberts rules of Order is one thing, but a Parlimentarian is another hurdle to knot up the flow of logical governance. No single person is adept at keeping up on all the rule changes and enough bills are passed to include rule changes that it takes a team a presidential term to research and rescind. Beauocracy is a self generating organism.
This legislation is a disgrace. Us conservative Republicans want a balanced budget! We reject the nonsense that we should add trillions of dollars to the US debt- on top of the $27 trillion dollar debt that costs us one trillion dollars per year in interest.
Imagine how much lower our tax rates could be if we did not have to tax ourselves an extra trillion dollars just to support the annual interest on the US debt.
Republicans have the White House, and both houses of Congress. They can not blame the budget deficits they are about to create on the Democrats.
This is a constant cycle over my lifetime. The temporarily GOP controlled Congress is going to sit on their hands through next year and usher in their Democrat masters.
Congress only rubber stamps legislation presented to them by their lobbyists, who pay them like low end prostitutes, using the funds from the special interest donors. The special interest donors will recoup this payoff investment by subsidies, grants and contracts issued from the government the legislation they sponsored directs it to.
Congress has not written a bill in decades, that is no longer the purpose of holding a seat. The rep or senator does not represent the constituents, rather whoever bought the seat for them to occupy.
Whatever happened to ending by statute the department of Education? USAID was simply rolled into the State Department to continue as usual, but without scrutiny.
The last time Republicans controlled the House, Senate and president was due to the opposition of the public to Obamacare. They ran on this issue for years, and then failed to repeal Obamacare once in control. Classic Republican behavior.
Same for foreign policy and endless wars we always lose, but enrich MIC shareholders and incompetent retired 4 star generals.
And the consequence will be Republicans screwing their base, again, either with total abandonment of any fiscal austerity, or through some foreign war Americans want no part of. Then, they will lose the House to even more reckless Democrats.
N,
Nobody thinks you are a conservative, let alone a Republican. You support government spending and spending more and more and more. Imagine if we actually did the conservative thing and cut spending…try it, just imagine such a thing for the first time in your life.
Steve, your arrogance is astonishing. You don’t speak for me. I’ve supported spending cuts since before David Stockman. You MAGA cult members don’t have a clue. Your cult is a fiscal train wreck, adding trillions to the national debt.
Typo: US Debt is at $37 trillion.
That will be closer to $38 trillion soon with the massive costs being spent to destroy Israel and this next unprovoked aggression for another mideast war.
We’re still spending hundreds of billions for the money laundering operation in Ukraine.
Whatever happened to our own citizens in East Palestine, OH and the storm devastated Appalachian region? Obviously Americans are not a priority for this administration.
Non-partisan parliamentarian? Appointed by Harry Reid? R-i-i-i-i-i-g-h-t.
I get why a parliamentarian is part of the legislative process, but what I don’t understand is why the appointee has that job for life (apparently). This is another example of an unelected bureaucrat making momentous decisions that affect the country as a whole, without recourse.
For all you whiners on here, the Senate parliamentarian is following the Byrd Rule which takes that using reconciliation, a bill can only address fiscal issues and not policy issues. That’s what she’s blocking and she’s following the law.