President Donald Trump on Monday called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough immediately, escalating a fight that could decide whether a GOP-backed voter ID bill advances on a simple majority vote or stalls at 60.
Trump made the demand on Truth Social and said MacDonough should be removed at once, arguing that she treats Republicans, and everything they stand for, horribly. He also predicted the SAVE America Act would not pass with her in place, putting Thune on the spot as the Senate’s top Republican and the person with authority over the chamber’s rule-keeper.
The stakes are straightforward. MacDonough previously ruled that the SAVE America Act cannot clear the Senate with a bare majority and would instead need 60 votes to get past the filibuster threshold. She also said the chamber could not approve $1 billion in funding for Trump’s ballroom project as part of an immigration-enforcement bill without that same margin. In both cases, her rulings undercut a fast-track route Republicans wanted to use.
That leaves Thune in a difficult position. Parliamentarians are hired by the Senate secretary, who is elected by the Senate, and they serve at the pleasure of the majority leader. But Thune has recently broken with Trump on several hot-button issues, including urging him to shut down his anti-weaponization fund tied to his IRS settlement, voicing concern about Bill Pulte as Trump’s pick to replace Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and sticking with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, even after Trump backed Cornyn’s primary challenger, Ken Paxton.
The clash also lands against a longer record of friction between the two men. Thune called Trump’s efforts to contest the 2020 election results inexcusable, Trump predicted in 2022 that Thune would be primaried and that his political career would end, and Thune later endorsed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in the 2024 presidential race. Many in Trump’s base had opposed Thune’s campaign for majority leader and wanted Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who finished third.
For now, Trump has sharpened the pressure, but Thune has not said he will move against MacDonough. That leaves the immediate question less about what Trump wants than whether the Senate majority leader is willing to use his power over the parliamentarian to satisfy him, or keep the rules referee in place and force Republicans to find 60 votes the hard way.
