U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters upon his arrival at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
President Donald Trump is set on going to battle against one of Congress's most powerful women, and according to anonymous sources who spoke to The Hill, a growing number of Republican senators are ready to get in line at his demand.
Trump this week demanded that the Senate remove its current parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, from her position after she shot down one of his biggest demands. The parliamentarian's duties include interpreting which provisions can legally be included in reconciliation bills crafted by the chamber, and recently, MacDonough ruled that $1 billion in taxpayer funds could not be earmarked for Trump's ballroom, sending him into a rage.
Despite his demands, Trump is largely powerless to do anything about MacDonough without support from senators. That might not be an issue for long, however, as anonymous sources close to the situation revealed to The Hill that support for ousting the parliamentarian is growing among GOP senators, with some going so far as to suggest her firing is long overdue.
“The fire-the-parliamentarian group is growing. There are quite a few members now who are saying, ‘We should have fired her day one,’” one anonymous Senate Republican told the outlet.
Another source, described as a "senior Senate GOP aide," also confirmed this growing anger among lawmakers, citing the "roadblocks" that MacDonough's rulings have created for the passage of Trump's ballroom funding and his much-demanded SAVE Act.
“I do think she should be fired. A large portion of the conference thinks that,” the senior aide said. “It’s very strong among the MAGA crowd."
Another anonymous senior aide, however, dumped a bit of cold water on the idea of ousting MacDonough, calling the idea "wishcasting” done by some of the president's "staunchest Senate allies." They also argued that many of MacDonough's rulings over the years have been completely fair.
“She’s been fair even if she doesn’t agree with everything you argue,” the aide said.
Appointed to the role back in 2012, MacDonough has made several rulings throughout her tenure that have also run afoul of Democrats and their biggest policy goals. In 2021, while Joe Biden was president and Democrats held both chambers of Congress, she ruled that a COVID-19 relief package could not include an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15. She also later ruled that a reconciliation bill could not implement a new policy creating a pathway to legal status for certain undocumented immigrants.