President Trump is taking direct aim at Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, the unelected procedural referee now standing in the middle of the Republican fight to pass border-security and election-integrity priorities.
Trump’s message to Senate Republicans is blunt: stop hiding behind process and start delivering.
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MacDonough was appointed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid during the Obama administration and has served as parliamentarian ever since.
Republicans have had years to replace her and have chosen not to.
That decision is now colliding with the party’s biggest promises on the border and election security.
For anyone not fluent in Senate procedure, the parliamentarian advises whether specific provisions qualify for reconciliation, the budget tool that lets legislation pass with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes normally needed to break a filibuster.
Under the Byrd Rule, provisions must have a direct budgetary impact to survive that process.
That means one unelected Senate official can become the choke point for provisions Republicans
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