Senate Republicans have been forced to water down food stamp cuts because of a decision by the non-partisan Senate parliamentarian.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Friday that cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) included in the “Big, Beautiful Bill” were not appropriate for a budget reconciliation bill, according to the New York Times.
Republicans intend to use budget reconciliation to push through the “Big, Beautiful Bill” without having to deal with a filibuster, but this requires complying with an extensive list of rules.
MacDonough ruled that the Republicans’ plan to cut some federal SNAP assistance and force states to pay for it instead would violate these rules.
Congressional Democrats cautiously celebrated her ruling:
Good news: the proposed cuts to SNAP in the GOP legislation have been found to violate Senate rules as the bill is currently written.
Bad news: Republicans have shown their willingness to slash this lifeline and will keep it on the chopping block.https://t.co/4PquszVoDM
— Rep. Gwen Moore (@RepGwenMoore) June 23, 2025
MacDonough also ruled that the “Big, Beautiful Bill” cannot contain a provision that would bar non-citizens from gaining access to SNAP benefits.
The only good news is that Senate Republicans have since been working overtime to salvage what SNAP cuts they can.
“Senate Republicans believe they can salvage tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts across the country’s largest anti-hunger program to help pay for the GOP megabill by making language tweaks to comply with the Senate’s rules,” Politico reported Monday.
“Republicans are now changing the bill to give states more time between receiving data that will determine how much they will pay and when they have to start funding SNAP benefits,” the report continued.
BOOZMAN reacts to the Senate parliamentarian striking a major SNAP provision from Senate Ag’s reconciliation bill text last night.
Says committee is looking at more options to achieve savings. pic.twitter.com/1eHtQ3KyZp
— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) June 21, 2025
But they’re not entirely certain that this change will be met with approval by MacDonough, who was appointed to her post by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2012.
In fact, based on her most recent rulings, some on the right have begun arguing that what needs to disappear isn’t SNAP cuts or anything else, but rather the parliamentarian herself.
“The Senate parliamentarian is a left wing crony of former Senate Democrat Harry Reid,” one prominent right-wing X account tweeted Monday. “She is abusing her position to help Democrats kill Trump’s agenda. The time has come for VP JD Vance to step in as President of the Senate and fire her.”
Others have instead just called for her rulings to be ignored:
Senate, ignore Elizabeth MacDonough. She does not matter.
— Scott Munroe (@sdmunroe) August 6, 2022
I would say Ignore the Parliamentarian. Who elected her? First district judges and now a senate parliamentarian blocks progress.
— DanME (@DanME) June 21, 2025
MacDonough is an advisor, not a decider. The Senate should stop changing things, ignore the parliamentarian, pass the original so we can move forward.
— Prowler (@derzum_) June 23, 2025
Time for MAGA to call, email and post to @LeaderJohnThune and every single Republican Senator and demand they ignore Elizabeth MacDonough and replace her NOW. @SenateGOP @charliekirk11 @StephenM @POTUS
— Kate (@kate_p45) June 24, 2025
The Senate Parliamentarian functions purely as an advisory role. She can be legally ignored, and the Parliamentarian has been overruled before.
She’s a leech from the corpse of Assault Weapons ban supporting Harry Reid.
If she slashes the NFA TAX reforms, she must be ignored. pic.twitter.com/98lbcqiu2A
— National Association for Gun Rights (@NatlGunRights) June 23, 2025
Her other rulings pertaining to the “Big, Beautiful Bill” include blocking voter ID requirements, blocking defunding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), blocking cuts to Environmental Protection Agency grants, blocking cuts to “sanctuary cities,” and more.
Some critics have argued that, with MacDonough at the helm effectively running things, the final version of the “Business, Beautiful Bill” will be a watered-down mess not even worth the time passing.
The OBBB is now 1) increasing deficits a LOT than the House bill, 2) watering down termination of the Green New Scam to less than 50%, 3) watering down food stamp reforms, 4) taking out HSA expansion, 5) gutting our (weak) effort to stop rogue judges, & 6) more… so… NOT GOOD. pic.twitter.com/BUJsAmbqcG
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) June 23, 2025
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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