Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushed back on President Donald Trump's demand that he fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, saying the nonpartisan rules referee has "a hard job" and emphasizing that her rulings "cut both ways," signaling no appetite to remove her despite pressure from the White House.

Thune's comments came after Trump, on Truth Social, urged him to "immediately fire the Parliamentarian," arguing she was obstructing GOP priorities and blocking key elements of Republican election legislation.

The dispute centers on the SAVE America Act, a Trump-backed election overhaul that Republicans have sought to advance as part of their broader voting and immigration policy agenda. The measure has been discussed in the context of reconciliation rules, which can allow certain budget-related legislation to bypass the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold, but only if provisions comply with strict procedural limits enforced by the parliamentarian.

MacDonough has repeatedly played a decisive role in interpreting those rules, including by striking or limiting provisions in past budget-related legislation that do not meet reconciliation requirements.

Trump has increasingly criticized the parliamentarian after rulings he views as constraining Republican efforts to advance his legislative agenda, framing her decisions as an obstacle to GOP priorities.

Thune, meanwhile, has resisted calls to overrule or remove MacDonough, maintaining a more institutional approach even as he seeks to keep Trump-aligned priorities moving through a narrowly divided Senate.

The disagreement highlights an ongoing tension between Trump's push for aggressive procedural changes and Republican leadership's efforts to operate within long-standing Senate rules and norms that the parliamentarian is tasked with enforcing.