Senate parliamentarian nixes offshore drilling provisions key to Trump’s mega bill

Restoring America’s energy independence hit a roadblock as a swamp bureaucrat continued to excise the beautiful parts of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

Even beyond the grave, the toxic impact of the establishment lived on as an appointee of late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid (D) was taking a chainsaw to the budget reconciliation process. Having already weighed in on efforts to trim the federal workforce and cut spending, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough turned to the rule Republicans leveraged their entire bill on to curb efforts to expedite oil and gas projects.

According to a report from The Hill, MacDonough cited the Byrd Rule in her opposition to numerous provisions in the OBBB, meaning they would have to be removed in order for the GOP to advance the legislation with the intent of passing with a mere majority instead of having to overcome a 60-vote threshold.

This included a provision to accelerate offshore gas and oil projects, a provision that sought to consider such endeavors automatically compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act and a requirement for oil and gas leases to be issued within 90 days after the sale of a lease.

MacDonough had also ruled against a requirement for the Interior Department secretary to permit the construction of Ambler Road to facilitate mine development in Alaska at the same time that she opposed a mandate of sale of millions of acres of federal public land under the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

Despite the intention of the parliamentarian to be a non-partisan position, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) took a victory lap over the advise and cuts being imposed as he said in a statement, “Democrats continue to show up and fight every provision of this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill, because this bill is an attack on workers and families everywhere.”

“Democrats will not stand idly by while Republicans attempt to circumvent the rules of reconciliation in order to sell off public lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” he went on. “We will make sure the Byrd Rule is followed and review any changes Republicans attempt to make to the bill.”

As had been reported, the impact of the parliamentarian had already been felt with opposition to an increase of the rate of contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement Systems, codified executive authority to eliminate whole agencies and reorganize others within the federal government, agency authority to rescind funds appropriated by Congress and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Senate parliamentarian rejecting Trump provisions in his mega bill left and right https://t.co/UQhuvjYZeA via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) June 23, 2025

Senate Republicans forced to water down food stamp cuts https://t.co/Lu9Ow8Zcl0 via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) June 24, 2025

While MacDonough was reportedly still reviewing other environmental provisions pertaining to Alaska, conservatives had seen fit to call out the GOP if they saw fit to prostrate themselves to an unelected establishment bureaucrat and pretend their hands were tied to deliver the impactful parts of Trump’s agenda after resigning to the continued increase in debt.

As Blaze News senior editor Daniel Horowitz put it, “If Republicans are going to hide behind the Senate parliamentarian to remove everything good from the bill, then they will wind up with a finished product that is a crap sandwich,” while others sounded off with complaints that included what provisions were advancing.

If Republicans are going to hide behind the Senate parliamentarian to remove everything good from the bill, then they will wind up with a finished product that is a crap sandwich.

— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 24, 2025

The Deep State has its grip on the U.S. Senate with Harry Reid appointed parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. This unelected bureaucrat is killing vast swaths of President Trump‘s Big Beautiful Bill. Sen. Thune… tell her NO. She can be overruled! pic.twitter.com/0KbRaZqpUH

— Grant Stinchfield (@stinchfield1776) June 24, 2025

BIG RED FLAG: The Senate parliamentarian just OK’d a 10-year freeze on state AI laws in the “Big Beautiful Bill.” That means if the bill passes in its current form, Texas wouldn’t be able to enforce the common-sense protections to protect our kids from things like deepfake AI…

— Senator Angela Paxton (@AngelaPaxtonTX) June 24, 2025

Not what we voted for, Fire her @LeaderJohnThune @SpeakerJohnson @JDVance

— Buford (@Buford2325) June 24, 2025

Fire the senate parliamentarian

— Mary Gregory (@MGregoryTX) June 24, 2025

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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