Donald Trump exploded at the longtime Senate parliamentarian as his wishlist of priorities remains in jeopardy on Capitol Hill.
But while the president has raged at the woman tasked with advising on Senate procedures and what can be included in legislation, Republican lawmakers have pointed out that Trump might not have the necessary votes for the $1 billion in funding he needs for his ballroom.
“Shockingly, Republicans have kept the very important position of ‘Parliamentarian’ in the hands of a woman, Elizabeth MacDonough, who was appointed, long ago, by Barack Hussein Obama and a vicious Lunatic known as Senator Harry Reid, who ran the Senate for the Dumocrats with an ‘iron fist,’” Trump ranted in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats—So why has she not been replaced?" he continued.
MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the language for the ballroom funding in the Senate bill would need to be reworked to be included in the legislation passed through the budget reconciliation process.
Senate Republicans are opting to use that process so their legislation can pass with a simple majority and avoid the filibuster, but it means abiding by certain rules.
Without reconciliation, Republicans need 60 votes in the Senate to avoid the filibuster. They only have 53, and that’s with every GOP member falling in line.
Trump not only demanded that MacDonough be fired but also continued his campaign to kill the filibuster, which several GOP senators firmly oppose.
“The Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics,” Trump complained. “The Dumocrats cheat, lie, and steal, especially when it comes to Votes in Elections, but stick together, whereas the Republicans allow the Elizabeth MacDonoughs of the World to stay in power, and brutalize us.”
“We need THE SAVE AMERICA ACT passed, and NOW—And, likewise, kill the Filibuster, which would give us everything! If we don’t pass at least one of these two provisions quickly, you will never see another Republican President again," he added.
Apart from the reality that the Senate parliamentarian has nixed bill provisions under both GOP and Democrat-majority Senates alike, including when Joe Biden was president, it’s not the only challenge Republicans face, particularly when it comes to the ballroom money.
While the situation was in flux, Sen. John Kennedy said that his understanding was that the more than $1 billion in additional funds for the ballroom were not being cut simply because of the parliamentarian.
“The votes are not there,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “If we go forward, we will lose.”
However, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said the ballroom funding was all a “work in progress.”
At the same time, four Republicans joined Democrats just last month to block the effort to include the SAVE America Act in GOP legislation, proving that even among Republicans, it did not have enough support to pass.
