This Woman Could Stop The Senate Health Care Bill
As Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tries to negotiate his way to a health bill that can win at least 50 Republican votes, there is one woman in the Senate who could stop the bill cold.
She isn’t even a senator.
Elizabeth MacDonough is the Senate’s parliamentarian, the first woman to hold that post, which involves advising senators on the chamber’s byzantine rules and procedures. She alone can decide what pieces of the emerging Senate overhaul of the Affordable Care Act can be included under the budget reconciliation process senators are using. That process allows them to pass the measure with a simple majority vote rather than needing the usual 60.
In theory at least, she could reject the very deals McConnell is trying to cut.
By all accounts, MacDonough, who has spent almost her entire career working for the Senate and was appointed to her position in 2012, is scrupulously fair and trusted by both major parties.
“Elizabeth is great,” said Rodney Whitlock, a former Republican staffer on the Senate Finance Committee who has argued tricky legislative points before her numerous times. Democrats agree. “She’s a straight shooter and an honest broker,” said Bill Dauster, a longtime Democratic staff director for the Budget Committee.
It’s good that both sides like her, because if the Senate bill comes to the floor, MacDonough may have to make some tough decisions that will make one side or the other very unhappy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/this-woman-could-stop-the-senate-health-care-bill/ar-BBDA2AU?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp
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