President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House from Camp David on June 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
The Senate parliamentarian is typically appointed by the Senate majority leader and serves at their pleasure, with no term limit.
Their role is to make apolitical judgments about Senate rules and procedure. In the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are working through now, the parliamentarian’s job is to rule on whether aspects of the bill fall within the necessary guidelines to qualify for reconciliation’s simple majority passage threshold.
However, with several rulings that found key portions of Trump’s agenda do not fall into reconciliation’s budgetary guidelines, Republicans on the other side of Capitol Hill – in the House of Representatives – are urging the Senate to break norms and disregard several of the parliamentarian’s decisions.
"They ought to heed the advice of the president – don’t change the bill," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., even called for the parliamentarian to be fired.
"The Senate Parliamentarian also ruled that ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS are eligible for federal student loans. Does she not realize that our student loan crisis is already out of control??? ZERO taxpayer dollars should go towards student loans for ILLEGALS," he wrote on X.
"THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP."
REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE 'IRRELEVANT' BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP'S 'BEAUTIFUL BILL'
Sen. Tommy Tuberville called for Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough to be fired. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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However, it was a slew of rulings unveiled Thursday morning the gutted numerous changes Senate Republicans made to the widely-used Medicaid program that triggered conservatives.
Among the axed provisions was the Senate GOP’s harsher crackdown on the Medicaid provider rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, which proved even a divisive policy among some in the conference.
Other provisions that were nixed included denying states Medicaid funding for having illegal immigrants on the benefit rolls, preventing illegal immigrants from participating in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and preventing Medicaid and CHIP funding from going toward gender-affirming care.
Republicans viewed those as key cost-saving changes, and their removal has likely set back their plan to put the mammoth bill on Trump’s desk by July 4.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fury-erupts-unelected-senate-scorekeeper-blocks-trumps-agenda