UNITED STATES - JUNE 23: Provisions of the "big beautiful bill" are subject to the "Byrd bath" review process by the Senate Parliamentarian, who's office is shown here in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, June 23, 2025. Senate committee staffers and the parliamentarian's office are working on the process known as the Byrd bath, seeking to determine which provisions of the GOP reconciliation bill are subject to parliamentary points of order that would require 60 votes to overcome. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
REVENGE OF THE NERD!
Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is getting torn to pieces by a little-known, unelected public official. Republicans in Congress are losing their shit.
- President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are in an uproar: A total estimated $587 billion in spending cuts have been blocked from their sweeping policy proposal known as the “big, beautiful bill” by a bureaucrat that few Americans even know exists. And they absolutely hate it.
- Think of it this way: In a basketball game, the referee blows a whistle when players step out of bounds. In Congress, that role is filled by an obscure official known as the Senate parliamentarian, who blows a whistle when lawmakers break the rules of the game (the ones that they themselves agreed to). Powerless Democrats have been watching from the sidelines in horror as their GOP colleagues figure out how to cover tax cuts for the filthy rich in the legislation. But Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, isn’t letting any out-of-bounds plays go through.
- MacDonough has dinged multiple GOP ideas in the bill already, and dealt another massive blow to Republicans’ agenda this morning, declaring that the bill can’t include key Medicaid provisions that would’ve saved hundreds of billions to offset the tax cuts. According to MacDonough, Senate Republicans also can’t increase the deficit past 2034 or make changes to Social Security. Technically, she’s citing a rigorous set of rules that are necessary for the slim GOP majority to bypass a Democratic filibuster, by using so-called budget reconciliation to pass their agenda with less than 60 votes.
- The Senate parliamentarian is appointed by the chamber’s leadership. Republicans could theoretically go around her, but the resulting change would be such a radical departure from tradition that even Trump’s GOP remains reluctant to go there, despite all the brouhaha.
MAGAworld is attacking MacDonough as a deep state agent on a mission to thwart their conservative agenda. That’s simply not true.
- “An unelected bureaucrat appointed by radical Harry Reid is stripping hard-fought conservative wins from the OBBB,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) tweeted, referring to the late Democratic senator-kingmaker. “This is politically motivated. A Senate staffer DOES NOT have the authority to overturn the will of 77 million voters.” (Actually… most Americans in both parties oppose Medicaid cuts.) Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) called for MacDonough to be fired, describing her as “WOKE.”
- MacDonough has dealt serious blows to the Democratic agenda in recent years, too, by scrapping a minimum wage increase and immigration reform. “Like the filibuster, this check cuts both ways and getting rid of it would as well,” Burgess Everett, Semafor’s congressional bureau chief, wrote on X.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune shut down the possibility of overruling the parliamentarian: “That would not be a good outcome.” He might be relieved that at least some of the Medicaid cuts are off the table, as they caused friction with a handful of GOP senators who were staunchly opposed to the measure — not to mention that House Speaker Mike Johnson privately warned that sweeping cuts to Medicaid could cost Republicans the House next year. For now, the Senate will have to find other pricey things to cut, or ways to work within the rules to find alternative schemes to get what they want.
MacDonough’s decisions could also complicate GOP lawmakers’ plan to pass the “big, beautiful bill” by July 4 — which would inevitably turn the orange president’s face bright red.
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"Secretary of war.”
— Donald Trump, toying with the idea of giving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a new job title.
NEWS NEWS NEWS
The Supreme Court ruled that states can cut off Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding to cover services such as cancer screenings and contraception. Patients often choose Planned Parenthood because it can be hard to find doctors who accept Medicaid, the organization said. The three liberal justices dissented. For more on the sweeping implications of this change, check out Ian Milhiser’s excellent explainer at Vox.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened further attacks on U.S. military bases in the Middle East — and claimed that Donald Trump’s strikes didn’t damage his country’s nuclear sites. However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the facilities were “badly damaged,” lol. European intelligence indicates that Iran’s uranium, at least, is largely intact.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued his meltdown over a leaked intelligence report showing that the strikes on Iran only set back its nuclear program a few months: The media is “hunting for scandals all the time,” he told reporters today. The Trump administration is now limiting how much intelligence it shares with Congress, angering Democrats.
The Trump administration plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man they mistakenly deported and then brought back, to another country that’s not El Salvador, federal prosecutors told a judge today. Prosecutors also said they would comply with court orders… but I’ll have to see it to believe it.
The vaccine advisory panel installed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted to remove a preservative in flu shots, even though there’s no scientific evidence that it’s dangerous. The preservative, thimerosal, has long been a target of the anti-vax community — including Kennedy’s own anti-vax group. Next year’s flu season is gonna be pretty lit, huh?
Legal experts are baffled and dismayed by the Trump administration’s decision to sue every federal judge in Maryland for slowing down his radical deportations agenda. It’s a “bizarre lawsuit that seems designed to pick a fight with the judicial branch,” said Alicia Bannon, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s judiciary program. Basically, Attorney General Pam Bondi is big mad that judges want to give people due process, which is a constitutional right. Boohoo!
Trump is considering naming a replacement for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as soon as September, as Powell resists Trump’s pleas to lower interest rates. The move would turn Powell into a lame duck fed chair, and probably signal that the next guy will do whatever Trump wants. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly being considered for the job. Would he begin to resemble Marco Rubio, who has way too many jobs for any one person to handle? Seems probable.
The world’s richest 1 percent of people increased their wealth by $33.9 trillion over the past decade, according to anti-poverty group Oxfam International. That’s enough to eliminate poverty worldwide 22 times over, the org said.Instead, rich weirdos like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson need to launch themselves and Katy Perry into space. This timeline is cursed.
The White House is embracing the term “daddy” for Trump (sorry, just threw up in my mouth) after NATO chief Mark Rutte used the word in a conversation with the president. Rutte told reporters he was simply describing how European countries view the United States, not Trump. And if you listen to the clip, he’s just cracking a dumb joke. The White House doesn’t care: “Daddy’s home,” the White House tweeted.
The Trump Organization scrapped its “Made in America” claim for its recently unveiled smartphones. Experts doubted that the phone could actually be made in the United States… and now the website says the device has an “American-Proud Design” and is “brought to life right here in the USA.” Whatever the fuck that means.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un took a family trip to the country’s newest beach resort this week, with state media describing it as one of the regime’s “greatest feats” of the year that could boost tourism (yes, tourism) to the country. Personally, I would love to know more about the guy who was tapped to launch himself off the waterslide in front of Kim.
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