Trump Wants the Parliamentarian Gone

The Senate parliamentarian is under direct presidential fire. Two sources confirmed to NOTUS that President Trump called Senate Majority Leader John Thune and demanded that Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough be fired.

The trigger: MacDonough ruled that the Republican plan to funnel $1 billion into a White House ballroom renovation would require a 60-vote threshold to pass — not a simple majority. That kills it under reconciliation rules.

Thune isn't playing along. His response to reporters was blunt: 'We're going through a process that we go through every time we have a reconciliation bill and the people on both sides are mad at the parliamentarian.' Translation: she's doing her job, and no, he's not firing her.

Democrats hated MacDonough when she ruled against including a federal minimum wage hike in Biden's COVID relief package. She's an equal-opportunity rule enforcer. That's the whole point of the position.

Republican staff are still working to redraft the ballroom language to survive Byrd rule scrutiny, according to Breitbart News. But the $1 billion figure itself is the real problem here — taxpayer money for a ballroom renovation is indefensible on fiscal conservative grounds.

Trump Slams the Door on Round Two

According to Roll Call, Trump told Republican senators at a White House Rose Garden lunch on October 21 that the 'Big Beautiful Bill' contained 'everything' he wanted — and flatly declared: 'We don't need to pass any more bills.'

That is a direct torpedo aimed at Speaker Mike Johnson's explicit plans. Before the August recess, Johnson announced not one but two additional reconciliation bills — one for fall 2025, one for spring 2026. Thune had signaled openness but made no firm commitments.

Trump's comments didn't happen in a vacuum. They came as a partial government shutdown entered its fourth week, with Senate Democrats blocking DHS funding. The Rose Garden lunch was staged to project GOP unity. It projected something else: a president who may be out of appetite for another legislative grind.

Without Trump's active pressure, there is no path to a second reconciliation bill. The math is brutal. The House majority sits at six seats — one member, California Rep. Kevin Kiley, officially left the GOP while still caucusing with the party, per the New York Post. Every defection matters.

Meanwhile, a Third Reconciliation Track Is Already Live

A separate $70 billion reconciliation bill specifically for immigration enforcement is already moving — and it passed the Senate 50-48 on April 23, 2026, according to NPR.

This isn't the 'second big beautiful bill' Johnson was talking about. It's a standalone emergency measure to fund ICE and the Department of Homeland Security through the end of Trump's term — roughly 3.5 years of funding. GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it alongside Democrats.

The budget resolution now heads to the House, where some members are already pushing to expand its scope — which would force another vote-a-rama in the Senate. President Trump set a June 1 deadline for passage.

Trump's 'no more bills' declaration appears to refer to the sweeping Johnson-style second reconciliation package, not this targeted immigration enforcement measure.

The Political Math Is Getting Uncomfortable

Republicans have real reasons to be nervous. The New York Times/Siena College poll, cited by The Hill, shows Trump's approval continuing to slide below 41%. The RealClearPolitics average sat at 40.7% in early May — worse than the 43.6% he registered the day before the 2018 midterms, when Democrats flipped more than 40 House seats.

The New York Post makes a legitimate counterpoint: the old midterm wave model may be broken. The 2022 red wave that never came, Biden losing House seats despite winning the presidency in 2020, Trump's 2024 win producing minimal House gains — the data suggests the electorate has structurally flattened. Republicans could also net up to 10 additional House seats from ongoing redistricting following Supreme Court rulings on racial gerrymandering.

Still, a six-seat majority heading into a shutdown, with a president calling to fire referees and pushing $1 billion ballroom projects, is a majority with little room to spare.

What the Media Is Getting Wrong

Left-leaning outlets are hammering the ballroom story as pure vanity — fair enough — but ignoring that MacDonough has ruled against both parties equally for years. That context matters.

Right-leaning outlets are soft-pedaling the fiscal irresponsibility of the ballroom provision entirely. $1 billion for a ballroom inside a building that receives a separate annual appropriation is government waste by any honest definition. A fiscally conservative publication should say so.

The three threads deserve attention together: Trump's apparent lack of interest in Round Two, the active $70 billion immigration reconciliation already in motion, and a looming shutdown that is eating the calendar and the political goodwill needed to do any of it.

What Comes Next

The 'Big Beautiful Bill' is law. The fight over what comes next just got messier. Trump wants the umpire fired, appears uninterested in another major legislative push, and is simultaneously demanding a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill by June 1. Johnson's grand two-bill follow-up plan may already be dead in the water — killed not by Democrats, but by the president it was designed to serve.