John Thune

President Donald Trump is calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire the chamber's parliamentarian "immediately," escalating pressure on Republican leaders after a series of rulings blocked key parts of the Trump-backed "SAVE America Act," according to Bloomberg.

The demand reflects frustration inside Trump's orbit that the Senate's rules referee has repeatedly ruled major sections of the election overhaul package ineligible for fast-track budget reconciliation.

The move forces Republicans to scale back provisions they had hoped to pass with a simple majority vote.

The SAVE America Act, a signature Trump priority, includes sweeping changes to voter eligibility and election administration rules but faces a steep procedural barrier in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Thune has so far resisted calls from Trump and his allies to remove or bypass the parliamentarian, underscoring the limits of using reconciliation to advance policy that falls outside strict budget rules.

He has also pointed to the arithmetic in the chamber, where Republicans lack the votes to overcome a filibuster.

"We don't have the votes, either to proceed or to sustain one," Thune has previously said in reference to efforts to change Senate rules, including proposals to weaken or eliminate the filibuster.

Trump's latest push also drew pushback from Senate Republicans, who dismissed the idea of firing the parliamentarian or altering Senate rules to force passage, arguing the core obstacle is a lack of votes rather than procedural rulings.

The parliamentarian serves as a nonpartisan arbiter of Senate rules under the Byrd Rule, which governs what can and cannot be included in reconciliation bills.

That process has increasingly become a flashpoint in partisan battles over major legislation, including immigration, tax policy, and election law.

The standoff highlights a widening divide between Trump, who is pushing for aggressive procedural action to advance his agenda, and Senate leadership, which has insisted it must operate within existing rules and acknowledges the GOP's lack of sufficient votes.