Trump calls on Senate to fire parliamentarian to pass the SAVE America Act

By Brentin Mock

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 23: The doors to the Senate Parliamentarian's office are seen in the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Senate Finance Committee began its “Byrd Bath” review process of U.S. President Donald Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill" Act. This process refers to a specific review of legislation named after the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump demanded the replacement of the Senate parliamentarian in a lengthy social media tirade Wednesday, under the belief that she’s obstructing passage of the voter suppression-filled SAVE America Act, and other legislation he supports. 

“We need THE SAVE AMERICA ACT passed, and NOW,” Trump posted. “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.”

Given that the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, can determine whether certain bills can bypass normal filibuster thresholds – as Trump is hoping will happen with his anti-voter legislation – Trump asked on Truth Social: “So why has she not been replaced?” 

Replacing the parliamentarian would pave the way for Trump’s SAVE America Act to pass more easily through Congress, which would impose restrictive voter ID and documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration rules on Americans. It would also help secure Trump’s goal of wresting control of elections from states to decide who’s eligible to vote.

Scrapping MacDonough for someone Trump favors would also further consolidate his power over Congress, after Tuesday’s primary elections led to the defeat of many of the few congressmembers remaining who’ve been willing to resist his demands.

One Senate race still in play is the Texas GOP primary runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton, where Trump’s endorsement of Paxton on Tuesday appears tied to his willingness to pass the SAVE Act by any means necessary.

“Ken is a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” wrote Trump.

Some Republicans have floated passing the anti-voter bill via reconciliation, which would only need 51 votes. But doing so would require making the case to MacDonough that the voting legislation serves a budgetary purpose, which it does not. 

The Senate parliamentarian position is supposed to be nonpartisan. The role is appointed by the secretary of the Senate, under the authority of the Senate majority leader. MacDonough was appointed in 2012 by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (who Trump referred to in his Truth Social diatribe as a “vicious Lunatic”).

The position has no term limits and can be fired by the majority leader. Trump is pushing for that to happen, not only because he believes MacDonough stands in the SAVE America Act’s way, but also because she rejected a bill to use $1 billion in taxpayer funding for Trump’s White House ballroom project.

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune refused to do that, much to Trump’s chagrin, according to a report from Semafor.