U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has called for the firing of Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after MacDonough blocked the Democratic Party’s attempts to raise the federal minimum wage at a hearing on Thursday, The Guardian reported.
MacDonough, who’s held her bipartisan role as Senate parliamentarian since 2012, ruled that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour should not be a part of the Biden administration‘s COVID-19 stimulus bill as it does not meet the standards for budget reconciliation.
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In a tweet released shortly after the hearing, Omar wrote, “Abolish the filibuster. Replace the parliamentarian. What’s a Democratic majority if we can’t pass our priority bills? This is unacceptable.”
The role of a parliamentarian is to be an impartial judge during such Senate discussions. According to The Guardian, MacDonough is well respected among both parties. Only one parliamentarian has ever been removed from office since its 1935 founding when Robert Dove was dismissed in 1987 after the Democratic Party obtained control of the Senate.
Sen. Bernie Sanders also released a tweet in disagreement with MacDonogh’s ruling, although he did not call for her removal from office.
“I strongly disagree with tonight’s decision by the Senate Parliamentarian. But the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour continues,” Sanders wrote in a tweet accompanied by a full statement.
Source: Rep. Omar Calls For The Firing Of Senate Official Who Tanked Democrat’s Minimum Wage Increase Plans
