'Ya think?' Ex-RNC chair mocks Republicans as Senate leader smacks down GOP plot
MSNBC host Michael Steele, who previously served as the chair of the Republican National Committee, jabbed the GOP on Thursday after Senate Majority Leader John Thune was forced to say his chamber would not try to overrule its parliamentarian.
Senate Democrats took a “victory lap” earlier in the day as their GOP colleagues faced major new issues with their so-called “one, big, beautiful, bill."
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, whose job is to interpret the rules for the chamber, flagged some of the changes the GOP proposed, including “hold down Medicaid costs by cracking down on a state provider tax," according to Politico. The parliamentarian advised that some of the GOP budget cuts can't pass along party lines.
Republicans including Reps. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have attacked the parliamentarian, with Greene calling for her to be fired.
Steele reamed his party over their meltdown on his show Thursday evening, "The Weeknight," after Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) called the GOP attacks "shameful."
"Congresswoman Pressley, you guys have done your work," he began, addressing Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). "So right now you're sitting back in the House going, 'We tried to tell y'all this was going to be a hot mess.'"
Steele continued, "But they wouldn't listen. So you have Republicans out here calling for the firing of the parliamentarian. But then you have Senate Majority Leader John Thune about that idea, quoting, 'No, that would not be a good option for getting a bill done.' You think?"
Steele asked Pressley what opportunity has opened up for Democrats on this "particular sticking point that Republicans find themselves in."
Pressley said public outcry is important at this moment.
"As Democrats, we have never seen this dark vision for the country, seen this big, ugly bill as an inevitability. We have to reject it and resist it at every turn," she said.
She demanded her GOP colleagues refrain from trying to "railroad" the megabill through. She denounced Republicans for "perpetuating this legacy they seem so hell-bent on creating of making people hungrier, poorer, and sicker."