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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump demanded that Republican senators fire Elizabeth MacDonough, the parliamentarian for that chamber, due to her recent decision to block funding for the White House ballroom in an upcoming reconciliation bill.

The Senate parliamentarian is a nonpartisan advisor who provides counsel to Senate leadership regarding its rules. On some occasions, the parliamentarian can choose to block the inclusion of certain provisions in a bill if they are incongruent with the regulations of the Senate.

Reconciliation bills, which can only be passed once per year, are budgetary-only bills allowing the passage of legislation without the threat of a filibuster block.

Last week, while examining the proposal to include funding for the ballroom in a reconciliation bill, MacDonough found that it would violate the rule restricting non-budgetary items from being included, thus requiring Republicans to remove the provision from the legislation.

Trump reportedly complained to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) on Monday over MacDonough’s action, demanding that she be fired. On Wednesday, Trump made that demand public in a post on Truth Social.

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