The Most Important Vote in the U.S. Senate

[longknife]

The chamber’s parliamentarian will have a lot of say over the fate of the Republican health care bill.

(She's in there somewhere)

I think it was the tv show Emergency! That had a couple of episodes about a stickler for the rules of debate who kept screwing everything up. How many of us even remember what a “parliamentarian” is? That being said, this is an excellent essay on just what a big impact this obscure Senate employee will have on the new health care act and maybe other legislation.

Most the time, Elizabeth MacDonough’s job is as unglamorous and uncontroversial as any in Congress—tedious even. Since 2012, she has served as parliamentarian of the Senate, which means her role, as outlined on the Senate’s web site, is “to provide expert advice and assistance on questions relating to the meaning and application of that chamber's legislative rules, precedents, and practices.”

Full, interesting piece @ The Most Important Vote in the Senate

 

[JakeStarkey]

She offers advice.

 

[usmbguest5318]

From the article:

If a member has a nitpicky question about how to handle an arcane motion, he takes it to MacDonough—typically well before an issue reaches the floor so as to avoid looking publicly foolish.

There's a concept that militates for the WH having its own parliamentarian, or something like it, at least in this Presidency. Of course, to make use of expert advice, one must first be humble enough to think that maybe one doesn't "know more than the generals," as it were.....Hmm...Maybe in retrospect it's best that we aren't wasting our money on something like a parliamentarian for the WH.

Parliamentarians avoid the media and, in general, strive for professional obscurity.

Oh, my. Look at that. Yet another behavioral pattern more than a few of our elected leaders should follow after taking office.

The brewing storm over Ryancare—or, if you prefer, Trumpcare-- promises to be one such moment, suggesting that MacDonough should brace for an acute onslaught of crazy.

I don't envy her her job. Poor woman. God bless and help her.

There are nuances to this dance that members and staff quickly learn...

Trumpkins, go get your dictionary. I know y'all don't understand nuance.

Parliamentarians don’t deal with hypotheticals.

Oh, Lord. Yet another stumbling block for Trumpkins....."What if," hypotheses contrary to facts is their "bread and butter."

They can get cranky if you pester them about their process. (“If you’re a staffer, the quickest way to frustrate the parliamentarian is to ask for the specific precedents on which they are basing their advice.”)

That probably runs counter to the whole reason they are there as experts. I think it's part of their job to help their constituency -- senators and their staffs -- understand the details of parliamentary procedure and the Senate's own rules and their application. (Remember, Senate rules are not laws, but their application is, necessarily legalistic.)

...you want to have your ducks in a row.

Would someone please tell Trump that so that maybe he won't tweet out stupid sh*t like "Obama wiretapped my phones" without first checking with credible sources rather than an editorialist on TV or some other person(s) whom he happened to discussing "whatever." Hell, just just get USMB members to do that before they engage in a discussion/debate.

....leaders have been known to fire a parliamentarian who issued advice they didn’t like. In 2001, then-parliamentarian Robert Dove refused to clear parts of the GOP’s budget plan for reconciliation. Out he went, to be replaced by his deputy, Alan Frumin.....

Typical....Integrity and fairness get out of here....Ideological and political supremacy, step this way.....

It’s not just lawmakers who get upset. With an issue as toxic as health care, outside activists can get downright scary when they disagree with the parliamentarian. Frumin held the post during the original Obamacare debate in 2010. He denied use of reconciliation for the primary legislation. But when he cleared it for a follow-up bill that made budgetary adjustments to the ACA, opponents went berserk, and Frumin started receiving death threats.

OMG...Death threats! Over a piece of legislation? Seriously!!! That's the kind of people we have in the GOP. No wonder Trump is POTUS.

MacDonough should prepare for the possibility that she is about to have her fifteen minutes of fame—which, in a job like hers, can be a giant pain in the backside.

Oh, look. A recurring theme: the value of preparation in advance of action.

 

[Picaro]

The chamber’s parliamentarian will have a lot of say over the fate of the Republican health care bill.

(She's in there somewhere)

I think it was the tv show Emergency! That had a couple of episodes about a stickler for the rules of debate who kept screwing everything up. How many of us even remember what a “parliamentarian” is? That being said, this is an excellent essay on just what a big impact this obscure Senate employee will have on the new health care act and maybe other legislation.

Most the time, Elizabeth MacDonough’s job is as unglamorous and uncontroversial as any in Congress—tedious even. Since 2012, she has served as parliamentarian of the Senate, which means her role, as outlined on the Senate’s web site, is “to provide expert advice and assistance on questions relating to the meaning and application of that chamber's legislative rules, precedents, and practices.”

Full, interesting piece @ The Most Important Vote in the Senate

Many of the Congressmen and Senators are master parliamentarians' themselves, so it isn't likely she could get away with anything underhanded. I wouldn't worry about her impact; she's just the traffic cop and everybody in the room knows her job.