许多共和党参议员驳回了推翻参议院议员的想法，此前她周四拒绝了特朗普税收和移民法案中的关键医疗补助条款，这对共和党削减预算方案成本的计划是一个打击。
这种情绪来自参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩(John Thune)几个月来一直表示，他反对反对参议院的规则执行者。
参议院议员伊丽莎白·麦克多诺(Elizabeth MacDonough)周四否认了共和党限制各州通过医疗保健提供商税收收集更多联邦医疗补助资金的计划——这是一项有争议的条款，该条款将为该法案的大部分减税提供资金。法案中的大部分节省来自医疗补助的变化。
麦克多诺的裁决意味着，参议院共和党人将需要重新调整该条款或完全废除它，如果他们想继续试图通过法案只使用共和党的选票。
这一裁决是共和党领导层的一大挫折，他们面临压力，必须尽快将其提交参议院，以满足特朗普7月4日通过的最后期限。这一裁决可能需要在相对较短的时间内对法案进行重大修改。无论他们如何改变，领导人都可能挫败共和党会议的一些派系，这可能会危及该法案的通过。
与此同时，议长迈克·约翰逊表示，随着参议院继续对该法案进行修改，众议院正在“观望”。
这位发言人说，参议院医疗补助的裁决“并没有使该法案在7月4日的最后期限前通过变得更容易”。
“但你了解我，希望是永恒的。我们将夜以继日地工作，争取在最后期限前完成。”
约翰逊表示，他可以为否决该议员“提出理由”。
“如果这是我们的决定就好了，”他说。“参议员们必须做出决定。我的意思是，我可以为它做一个案例，但没有人问。”
周四下午，当被问及该法案的程序性投票何时开始时，图恩回头说道:“我们会就此回复你。”
周四上午，一些参议院共和党人人表示，他们将努力修改法案中的语言，并将其发回麦克唐纳审查，但不会否决她。一些人说，参议院也不太可能在没有供应商税收条款的情况下推进该法案。
共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆在谈到麦克唐纳时说，参议院“无意推翻她”。“但我想我们会再试一次。”
其他共和党参议员表示，这将推迟通过该法案的时间表，该法案定于本周末在众议院通过。
共和党参议员埃里克·施密特说:“我认为我们会再次尝试……我猜他们会继续努力。”
“是啊，可能会把(时间线)往后推，”施密特在谈到麦克唐纳的裁决时说。“我们走着瞧。但我们承诺整个周末都会呆在这里，所以我不认为这会改变整个时间框架。”
共和党参议员里克·斯科特(Rick Scott)表示，麦克唐纳的裁决“相当令人沮丧”，但拒绝接受参议院将否决议员的想法。
“我们要做的是完成这一过程，拿出符合特朗普议程的东西，同时保持财政健康。所以我会继续努力做到这一点，”斯科特说，并补充说他对这一目标的实现持“乐观”态度。
共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪明确表示，“我们永远不会否决议员。”
其他共和党人对这位议员和她的裁决感到愤怒。
共和党参议员汤米·特伯维尔(Tommy Tuberville)鲁莽地站出来反对麦克唐纳——要求图恩“尽快”解雇她，并指责她有党派偏见。然而，他没有提到否决她。
“由哈里·里德任命并为阿尔·戈尔提供建议的沃克参议员刚刚废除了一项禁止非法移民窃取美国公民医疗补助的条款。这是为什么美国人讨厌沼泽的一个很好的例子在X上的一篇帖子中说.
“未经选举的官僚认为他们比人民选举的美国国会议员更了解情况。她的工作不是推动一个清醒的议程。参议院议员应该尽快被解雇，”他补充说。
共和党参议员马克韦恩·马林(Markwayne Mullin)表示，麦克唐纳的裁决是“政治决定”的一部分。
“我担心议员做出这些决定的能力，”马林说。
他后来补充道，“如果这是(她)的政治决定，那就不行。”
甚至在麦克多诺的裁决之前，供应商税收抵免条款就已经成为领导层的眼中钉。
几天来，参议院共和党会议的一个小而关键的派别一直在举着大旗，谈论这种削减各州医疗补助收入的方式可能会限制他们州的农村医院。由于供应商税的这些变化，参议院的一些共和党人威胁要拒绝投票支持该方案，因此对这些人来说，麦克唐纳的裁决可能是受欢迎的。
如果对条款进行修改，所有人都会关注一把参议院共和党人。对于那些投票对推动法案通过终点线至关重要的人来说，一些变化可能会成为协议的破坏者。
上周末，麦克唐纳仔细审查了众议院通过的法案可能违反了参议院的规定。她已经做出了许多被民主党人吹捧为重大胜利的决定。
这项名为“伯德浴”的审查以已故参议员罗伯特·伯德的名字命名，他帮助制定了管理预算和解方案的规则，目前仍在参议院进行。
任何被麦克多诺裁定为不符合参议院规则的条款都将被删除，否则该立法将受到参议院60票的限制。共和党人需要避免这一点，否则他们将无法通过该法案。
Senate GOP 'frustrated' by parliamentarian's Medicaid ruling in Trump's bill -- but won't overrule her
Many Republican senators dismissed the idea of overruling the Senate parliamentarian after she rejected key Medicaid provisions in Trump's tax and immigration bill Thursday, which dealt a blow to Republicans' plan to slash costs in the budget package.
This sentiment comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said for months that he was opposed to going against the Senate's rule enforcer.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on Thursday denied the GOP plan to cap states' ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding through health care provider taxes -- a controversial provision that would have funded much of the bill's tax cuts. Most of the savings in the bill came from the changes in Medicaid.
MacDonough's ruling means that Senate Republicans will need to retool the provision or scrap it entirely if they want to move forward with attempting to pass the bill using only GOP votes.
The ruling is a major setback for Republican leadership, who are under pressure to expeditiously move it to the Senate floor to meet Trump's Fourth of July deadline for passage. This ruling will require potentially major reworks of the bill with relatively little time to accomplish them. And no matter how they change it, leaders are likely to frustrate some faction of the Republican conference, which could imperil the bill's passage.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson said the House is "on a wait and see basis" as the Senate continues to make changes to the bill.
The speaker said the Senate Medicaid ruling “doesn’t make it easier” for the bill to pass by the July 4 deadline.
“But you know me, hope springs eternal. And we are going to work around the clock to try and meet that deadline.”
Johnson suggested he could “make a case” for overruling the parliamentarian.
“If only that were our decision,” he said. “The senators have to make that call. I mean, I can make a case for it, but no one's asking.”
Asked Thursday afternoon when procedural votes on the bill might begin, Thune looked over his shoulder and said, "We'll get back to you on that."
A number of Senate Republicans said on Thursday morning that they'd work to tweak language in the bill and send it back to MacDonough for review -- but would not overrule her. It's also unlikely that the Senate would move forward with the bill without the provider tax provisions, some said.
The Senate has "no intention of overruling her," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of MacDonough. "But I think we'll take another shot."
Other Republican senators said that this will delay the timeline for passing the bill, which was set to move through the chamber this weekend.
"I think we'll make another run at it … my guess is that they'll continue to work," Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt said.
"Yeah, could push [the timeline] back," Schmitt said about MacDonough's ruling. "We'll see. But we're committed to being here through the weekend, so I don't think it changes that overall time frame."
Republican Sen. Rick Scott said MacDonough's ruling is "pretty frustrating," but rejected the idea that the Senate would overrule the parliamentarian.
"What we've got to do is work through this process and come up with something that fulfills the Trump agenda -- also has fiscal sanity. So I'm going to keep working hard to do that," Scott said, adding he's "optimistic" it can be accomplished.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy stated clearly that "we would never overrule the parliamentarian."
Other Republicans fumed over the parliamentarian and her ruling.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville came out brashly against MacDonough -- calling for Thune to fire her "ASAP" and accused her of being partisan. He did not mention overruling her, however.
"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," Tubervillesaid in a post on X.
"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," he added.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin suggested that MacDonough made her rulings as part of a "political decision."
"I'm concerned about the parliamentarian's ability to make these decisions," Mullin said.
He later added, "If it's a political decision on [her] part, then that's not OK."
The provider tax credit provisions had been emerging as a thorn in leadership's side even before MacDonough's ruling.
For days, a small but critical faction of the Senate GOP conference had been raising major flags about the way this cut to states' Medicaid revenue might kneecap rural hospitals in their states. A number of Republicans in the Senate were threatening to withhold their votes for the package because of these changes to the provider tax, so for that group, MacDonough's ruling is likely a welcome one.
If changes are made to the provision, all eyes will be on ahandful of Senate Republicans. Some changes could be deal breakers for those whose vote is critical to moving the bill over the finish line.
Last weekend,MacDonough carefully scrutinized the House-passed billfor possible violations of the Senate's rules. She has already issued a number of decisions that Democrats are touting as major victories.
This review, called the Byrd Bath -- named after the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who helped institute the rules governing budget reconciliation packages, is still underway in the Senate.
Any provision that MacDonough rules out of order with the Senate's rules will have to be stripped or else the legislation will be subject to the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Republicans need to avoid this, or they won't be able to pass the bill.
