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  "path": "/post/210623/donald-trump-ballroom-quest-senate-parliamentarian",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-19T14:53:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Senate",
    "John Thune",
    "parliamentary government",
    "White House",
    "Ballroom",
    "white house ballroom",
    "Budget",
    "century",
    "Semafor",
    "NOTUS",
    "less money"
  ],
  "textContent": "The Senate parliamentarian is a nonpartisan referee for the legislative branch that has quietly existed for almost a century. So of course Donald Trump is mad at the current one.\n\nTrump pressured Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a private phone call Monday to fire Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, according to reporting by Semafor and NOTUS. Two days earlier, MacDonough ruled against Senate Republicans allocating $1 billion for the president’s ballroom project in their budget reconciliation bill.\n\nDespite Trump claiming for months that his ballroom would be entirely funded through donations, his cronies in the Senate have tried to sneak in an extra billion for “securing” the space (which is not even built yet). The proposed reconciliation bill also funds the Department of Homeland Security through 2028.\n\nMacDonough, the first woman to be appointed parliamentarian, has served in the role since 2012. One of her jobs is to review all reconciliation bills and cut provisions the Senate cannot make a good case for. While her cuts aren’t technically binding and can be overruled with a majority vote, ignoring her would be a huge break from precedent—and we all know the Senate loves precedent.\n\nThune was dismissive of the idea of firing MacDonough, according to NOTUS.\n\n“No,” the majority leader told NOTUS when asked if he would consider the idea. “We’re going through a process that we go through every time we have a reconciliation bill and the people on both sides are mad at the parliamentarian. That’s been true.” Thune also let things slide in 2025 when Trump moaned to him about MacDonough’s rulings on Medicaid provisions.\n\nThe phone call represents yet another attempt to influence the legislative branch from our current commander in chief, who routinely decries people and policies that don’t benefit him on social media.\n\nRepublicans are not expected to take out this “security” allotment but instead adjust the clause’s language and potentially ask for less money. If MacDonough clears the new version, the bill could go to the Senate floor for a vote in the next few weeks.",
  "title": "Trump’s Ballroom Quest Gets Even More Unhinged"
}