President Donald Trump escalated his war on Senate procedural norms Wednesday, directly attacking the chamber's nonpartisan parliamentarian and demanding Republicans eliminate the legislative filibuster. In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump accused Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian since 2012, of consistently ruling against Republican interests while favoring Democrats.
“Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced?” Trump wrote. He argued that “there are many fair people who would be qualified for that vital job” and claimed that “the Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics.”
MacDonough, the first woman to hold the position, serves as the Senate's impartial interpreter of its rules. Her role has become increasingly pivotal as both parties use budget reconciliation — a process exempt from the 60-vote filibuster — to advance major legislation on party-line votes. She determines which provisions qualify under the Byrd Rule, which bars non-budgetary items from reconciliation.
Trump's latest broadside follows a MacDonough ruling over the weekend that blocked security funding for a new White House ballroom from inclusion in a reconciliation bill. Last year, she similarly rejected provisions related to immigration enforcement and Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The president's attacks have found an echo in Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who last June called for MacDonough's immediate dismissal. “Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,” Tuberville wrote on X.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has pushed back, urging Republicans to respect MacDonough's rulings and defending the filibuster — a stance that puts him at odds with Trump. The president renewed his call to “kill the Filibuster, which would give us everything!” He warned that Democrats would abolish it as soon as they regain control, then add statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico, creating four new Senate seats and shifting the electoral map permanently.
Trump also pressed Republicans to pass voter identification legislation, insisting that without at least one of these two measures, “you will never see another Republican President again.” He painted a dire scenario: “The Dumocrats will end up with 2 additional States, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and all that entails, including 4 Senators, many Congressmen, and many additional Electoral Votes, and they will also get their dream of a packed United States Supreme Court with their most favorite number — 21 Justices.”
Internal GOP resistance to ending the filibuster remains strong, though the pressure is mounting. Democrats faced similar internal divisions when they held the majority. The debate over Senate rules is far from settled, but Trump's intervention signals that the issue will remain a flashpoint as the 2024 election cycle intensifies. For more on the administration's broader strategy, read about Trump's cautious approach to Iran and the eroding GOP confidence in his economic stewardship.
