WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans are scrambling to push through President Donald Trump’s big bill as tensions run high over the Senate parliamentarian’s ruling against key Medicaid provisions, which prompted Sen. Tommy Tuberville to call for firing the Senate’s top rule keeper.
On Thursday morning, the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough dealt a blow to a Republican plan to cap a funding mechanism used by states to collect more federal Medicaid dollars, known as the provider tax. She also ruled against provisions that would block certain immigrants who are not citizens from receiving Medicaid or Medicare, which Tuberville decried.
Shortly after, he posted on X that the parliamentarian should be fired “ASAP.”
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.
Unelected bureaucrats think they know…
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) June 26, 2025
Alabama’s senior senator doubled down on that claim in a call with reporters Thursday.
“The parliamentarian’s job is not to push a woke agenda, in case she forgot President Trump won in a landslide election seven months ago,” Tuberville said. “He received a mandate from the American people, and the one ‘big, beautiful bill’ delivers on that mandate. She should be fired.”
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., struck a different tone. She stood firmly behind the process and the Senate’s rules.
“I think that there are ways that we can adjust our language to fit within the Byrd Rule and I think that’s exactly what leadership plans to do so that we can move these things forward,” Britt told Alabama Daily News.
Most of the savings in the bill that aim to offset the tax cuts come from the Medicaid changes. Republicans now have to rework their plans or revise their language to meet the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which does not allow for “extraneous” provisions in reconciliation bills. The process allows the Senate to pass the budget bill with a simple majority.
The parliamentarian’s rulings aren’t binding but are expected to be followed.
The parliamentarian has struck down numerous provisions in the GOP megabill, including a plan to partially shift some food aid costs to states, which could cost Alabama millions of dollars. However, Republicans are awaiting the parliamentarian to re-look at the provision after they revised the language around that plan in hopes of keeping the cost-share plan intact.
From the White House on Thursday, Trump pushed lawmakers to coalesce around the legislation, as some Republicans continue to have concerns with Medicaid cuts and spending levels.
At an event in the East Room surrounded by “everyday Americans,” Trump urged lawmakers to pass the sweeping legislation by July 4.
“The one ‘big, beautiful bill’ to secure our borders, turbocharge our economy and bring back the American dream…is met with tremendous approval and reception,” Trump said.
But the reception at Alabama’s State House Thursday morning wasn’t quite as jovial. Advocates and state Democrats joined together to warn against the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling just to help people who are already far ahead,” Alabama Arise Executive Director Robyn Hyden said at a news conference.
Hyden mentioned her concern over the freeze on the provider tax included in the legislation that Alabama uses to help fund Medicaid.
“Long-term, this bill is also going to attack our state’s ability to fund Medicaid,” Hyden said. “Troubling provisions might freeze our ability to levy taxes on providers, imperiling a primary source of matching funds to sustain a Medicaid program which provides health insurance for one million Alabamians.”
The White House is pressuring Republicans to pass the megabill by July 4, next Friday. However, the parliamentarian’s rulings and disagreements within the Republican conference make that deadline a challenge.