Trump Demands Firing — Thune Says No

President Trump is publicly demanding Senate Majority Leader John Thune fire the Senate’s top procedural referee — and Thune is refusing, setting up a dramatic power struggle that could determine the fate of the SAVE America Act.

Story Snapshot

Trump pressured Thune to fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she ruled that certain funding could not be included in a budget reconciliation bill.
Thune publicly refused to fire MacDonough, calling her a fair and nonpartisan official — putting him directly at odds with Trump and MAGA allies.
MacDonough’s ruling invoked the Byrd Rule, which bars non-budget items from passing through reconciliation with a simple majority vote.
The standoff has intensified fractures inside the Senate Republican caucus as the SAVE America Act faces a tight legislative window.

Trump Turns Up the Heat on Thune

President Donald Trump publicly called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she ruled that certain funding provisions could not be included in a budget reconciliation bill. Trump and his allies argue the ruling is obstructionist and that MacDonough should be removed to clear the path for the SAVE America Act. Multiple outlets, including Politico and NOTUS, confirmed Trump made his demand directly to Thune and then escalated it publicly.

The White House also applied behind-the-scenes pressure, quietly urging Thune to act against the parliamentarian before Trump went public with his demands. The pressure campaign reflects how critical the reconciliation process is to Republicans hoping to advance major legislative priorities — including border security, tax policy, and spending cuts — with a simple Senate majority rather than the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.

Thune Refuses to Budge — and Faces the Heat

Thune pushed back firmly, telling reporters he would not entertain firing MacDonough and describing her as a fair, nonpartisan official doing her job. Thune framed the dispute as routine friction that comes with using reconciliation to move large legislative packages. His refusal to act on Trump’s demand has drawn sharp criticism from MAGA supporters and Trump-aligned voices on social media, with some calling for Thune himself to be removed from his leadership post.

The rift between Thune and Trump is not new, but this confrontation is among the most public and pointed. Conservative grassroots activists and Trump loyalists have long viewed Thune with suspicion, seeing him as insufficiently committed to the America First agenda. His open defiance of Trump’s demand to fire the parliamentarian has now given those critics fresh ammunition and reignited calls for a leadership shake-up in the Senate.

What the Byrd Rule Fight Actually Means

At the center of the dispute is the Byrd Rule, a Senate regulation that prohibits “extraneous” provisions — items without a direct budgetary impact — from being included in reconciliation bills. MacDonough’s role as parliamentarian is to rule on whether specific provisions comply with that standard. Her ruling that the challenged funding did not meet the Byrd Rule threshold is the kind of determination that can make or break entire legislative strategies when Republicans are trying to pass major bills without Democratic support.

Thune is too much of a coward to fire
the parliamentarian and pass the SAVE
America Act — even though he has sole
authority to remove her at any moment.

Trump needs to apply real pressure if
he wants it done. Thune is a snake who
must be brought to heel before midterms.

— Dick Hammer (@DickHammer776) June 8, 2026

Reconciliation fights have repeatedly turned the parliamentarian into a political flashpoint. Because the office acts as an umpire over rules that determine whether a majority can bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold, losing sides have strong political incentives to portray adverse rulings as partisan obstruction rather than standard rule enforcement. Trump’s demand to fire MacDonough fits that pattern — but the stakes are unusually high because the blocked provisions are tied to a Trump-branded funding request and the broader SAVE America Act remains on a tight timeline. Whether Thune holds his ground or eventually bends to pressure from the White House will signal just how much leverage Trump holds over his own Senate caucus as the legislative clock ticks down.