GOP Push to Sideline Senate Parliamentarian Signals Path for Trump’s Big Budget Bill

By defying the parliamentarian on California’s emissions standards, Senate Republicans are rehearsing for a bigger fight: pushing Trump’s mega-bill past the Byrd Rule’s constraints.

WASHINGTON — In a maneuver as audacious as it is ominous, Senate Republicans are testing the tensile strength of Senate norms, poised to steamroll the chamber’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, in a bid to dismantle California’s auto emissions standards.

This calculated gambit is more than a policy skirmish—it’s a dress rehearsal for how the GOP intends to handle President Donald Trump’s sprawling legislative vision, the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” when it faces the Senate’s procedural crucible known as the Byrd Bath.