Few know her name or have seen her on TV, but Elizabeth MacDonough is one of the most important people in Washington.
As the Senate's parliamentarian, MacDonough advises lawmakers about what is acceptable under the chamber's rules and precedents. Her advice on arcane points of Senate procedure usually doesn't make the headlines, but can have lasting consequences.
Always an important role in a place where the rule book is king, the job of parliamentarian has become even more pivotal in the 50-50 Senate, where parties may seek advantage by manipulating the rules.progressive Democrats by advising that a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour could not be included in Biden's COVID-19 relief legislation.
Under that definition, immigration proposals might seem to be an even longer shot than a $15 minimum wage. However, a provision for immigrant visas was passed by a Republican-led Senate by reconciliation in 2005. MacDonough has said publicly that her advice was overturned in 2013, when Democrats removed the 60-vote threshold for voting on most presidential nominees, apart from the Supreme Court; and in 2017, when Republicans did the same thing for Supreme Court nominees.
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