Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pushed back on President Donald Trump’s call for him to “immediately fire” Obama-era Senate parliamentarian appointee Elizabeth MacDonough, arguing that doing so would not pave the way for passage of the SAVE America Act because Republicans “don’t have the votes.”
“For me, it’s a function of math…” Thune told FOX Business on Wednesday.
“The issue with respect to the parliamentarian is one where, even under reconciliation, it has to be principally about budget and not policy, and SAVE America would not be at a 51-vote threshold. It would be at a 60-vote threshold under the rules, so she would just basically enforce the rules now.”
Thune pointed to a ruling that favored Republicans last week, when MacDonough determined that a Democratic-backed weaponization amendment would require 60 votes to pass rather than a simple majority.
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“But [if] it had been a 51 [vote threshold] there would have been… an anti-weaponization amendment attached [to] that bill which would have jeopardized its passage in the House and probably jeopardize the president signing into law, so you win some you lose some with a parliamentarian,” he added.
President Trump called on Thune to remove MacDonough in a Truth Social post on Monday, writing that he “should immediately fire the parliamentarian, who treats Republicans and everything they stand for horribly!”
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“Just the other night, as an example, she ruled against us on a proposal that would have easily been approved, and should have been, by anyone else,” the president added, insisting Republicans reserve “every right” to change her to pave way for the SAVE Act.
The Trump-backed bill would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
The president has also called for nuking the Senate filibuster, another measure Thune mentioned during his discussion on “Mornings With Maria.”
“[That’s something] we don’t have the vote to do and, on that issue, it’s not even close,” he said.
“[On] some of these issues, it is a close call, but there probably aren’t half of Senate Republicans who are in favor of doing that.”
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