This week, the Senate parliamentarian, who has been in place since 2012, shredded Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill.
Now some in the Republican Party are going ballistic, calling for her to be fired.
Amusingly, Republicans are using the same attacks against her to support her removal as Democrats did against Elon Musk when he served in the Trump administration.
Before I get into how the GOP is responding, I wanted to go over the attacks against Musk by Democrats to prove that this is not the line of attack Republicans should be using here.
If we go back to the early days of DOGE, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was among the first to come out against Musk, saying he was not an elected official and should not be making policy.
She stated, “Now, no one elected Elon Musk to nothing. Not one Democrat in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Republican in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Independent in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Libertarian voted for Elon Musk. Damn, not one vegetarian in America voted for Elon Musk. And yet, Elon Musk is seizing the power that belongs to the American people. We are here to fight back.”
Republicans torched her, noting that there are only about 500 elected officials in the government, but plenty of those not elected who are employed by the government help shape policy.
The outrage after the provisions were removed from the bill started in the House, with Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) sounding just like Warren as he ranted against the changes.
He stated, "The Senate Parliamentarian is not elected. She is not accountable to the American people. Yet she holds veto power over legislation supported by millions of voters."
Steube added, "It is time for our elected leaders to take back control."
He then called on Vice President JD Vance to "overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country."
Next up was Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who stated, “The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.”
Then he tapped his inner Warren, stating, “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.”
First and foremost, Congress has not proved it has the intelligence of a gnat, so I would not go down that road. We would not be in the financial mess we are in now were it not for Congress passing reckless spending.
Second, the rules for reconciliation are very strict, which is why provisions are regularly rejected by the Parliamentarian when it is being used. If the Senate wants the bill passed, craft better legislation that follows the rules. To this point, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has given no inclination that he will override the rulings or dismiss the Parliamentarian, so they are going to have to get this all figured out. Right now, they sound like petulant children rather than lawmakers.
