Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the Senate GOP finally grew a spine and sent a message to the unelected bureaucrat trying to tear apart President Trump’s big, beautiful bill.
As TGP readers know, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough struck down several key features of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful bill,” on Thursday, including defunding of Medicaid for illegal aliens and defunding “gender-affirming care” under Medicaid and CHIP, citing the Byrd rule.
MacDonough also axed the Medicare Provider tax, which complicated the Senate GOP’s math on the spending cuts they wanted to use to help pass the legislation.
This was the second time MacDonough has removed key parts of Trump’s bill. As the Gateway Pundit reported, MacDonough last weekend struck down several GOP provisions in the bill by applying the ‘Byrd Rule.’
But on Sunday morning, the Senate GOP managed to work around MacDonough and implement language that cleared her previous ruling.
This time, she rolled over.
LOOK:
In addition to Medicaid, the section that limited non-citizen immigrants from qualifying for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions was put back in the bill. This will save significant money by barring individuals from qualifying for premium assistance while buying insurance via Obamacare marketplaces.
MacDonough also greenlighted a reworked version of the Senate GOP’s crackdown on Medicaid provider taxes.
NEW: The parliamentarian has cleared a reworked version of Senate GOP’s crackdown on Medicaid provider taxes, per Senate Budget Dems. Means it meets reconciliation rules
BIG win for Finance Committee R’s, who need the provision to meet spending cut targets
More parl ruled OK: pic.twitter.com/ifZV5RlcF5
— Laura Weiss (@LauraEWeiss16) June 29, 2025
While this is all welcome news, the GOP has more work to do, considering these three provisions were just part of what Macdonough took out. If she again refuses to allow policies that meet the Byrd Rule, the Senate should start considering who could replace her.
The post NEW: Senate GOP Discovers Spine – Puts Three Key Provisions Including Defunding of Medicare for Illegals Back In “Big Beautiful Bill” Following Parliamentarian Ruling appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.