July 29, 2025
Students for Life Calls for the Immediate Removal of the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian as the “Umpire” Seems to Play for the Other Team
“In order to put an end to the influence of Deep State actors who prop up abortion vendors and undermine the President’s agenda, we are calling on the Senate Majority Leader to replace the Senate Parliamentarian with one who does not use the role to make policy under the pretense of advice,” said Students for Life’s Kristan Hawkins. “We stand in support of President Trump and Congress as they fight for common-sense budget cuts and the lives of preborn Americans, but in order to achieve that, we can no longer have unelected bureaucrats derailing legislation.”
Hawkins makes her case for a fair budgeting process & advisor in a new op-ed at The Hill, calls for the removal of the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian.
WASHINGTON D.C. (07-29-2025) – In a new opinion piece at The Hill, Students for Life Action (SFLAction) President Kristan Hawkins called on U.S. Senate leadership to make a critical change in personnel before the next round of the budget reconciliation gets underway. With news that the budget process has begun again – one that will impact reductions in funds going to Planned Parenthood and all abortion vendors as the approved cuts are only for one year – the time has come to remove and replace the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian. “Even President Trump has called for U.S. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to be overruled, as she was an obstacle to the kind of sweeping change possible today,” noted Hawkins. “We’re beginning a national push, calling for a new legislative advisor, before we get back to work to finish what we started. If Planned Parenthood and all abortion vendors can be defunded for one year, why not five or ten? We’re just getting started.”
At The Hill, Hawkins writes: “In the U.S. House budget, pro-life leaders fought for abortion vendors to be cut from the nation’s health care for a period of 10 years — a historic legacy for Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP. But the U.S. Senate dropped that ball by choosing to play by rules others haven’t always followed, allowing an umpire into the political game who seems to be playing for the other team.
“When key Republican-backed provisions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” were gutted in the Senate, the executioner was not one of the elected leaders charged with representing taxpayers. The person wielding the blade, rather, was an unelected, deep-state bureaucrat: U.S. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough.”
To read the entire opinion piece, CLICK HERE: Senate GOP must think ahead this time and remove the Senate parliamentarian now
The Senate Parliamentarian position was created in the 1930s as an advisory role — a referee of sorts — to weigh in on statutes and procedures that guide how business is conducted. And history teaches us that not only can the Parliamentarian be overruled or fired, both events have taken place. In fact, President Trump advised Congress to overrule her advice.
LEARN MORE about the legislative advisor here: “Alexa, What’s a Parliamentarian?” How Senate Majority Leader Thune May Let an Unelected Official Decide Planned Parenthood’s Fate
SFLAction was a leader in the fight to achieve historic cuts. LEARN MORE about our efforts — from lobby days, to events, to nation campaigns here: Students for Life Action Celebrates the U.S. House Reconciliation Budget Bill Advancement; One Step Closer to Telling Planned Parenthood & All Abortion Vendors to “Go Fund Themselves
The budget that passed offers a unique opportunity to invest scarce taxpayer recourses into real healthcare that services both mother and child – born and preborn. LEARN MORE HERE: BREAKING: Planned Parenthood, You’re Fired—Trump Signs the “Big, Beautiful” Budget Bill
For interviews, email: [email protected]
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The Pro-Life Generation (PLG) is an umbrella organization encompassing the most-cutting edge engagement opportunities for a Vote Pro-Life First Community. PLG includes Students for Life Action (SFLAction), a 501c4, along with its 501c3 sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA), that together make up the nation’s largest, pro-life youth organization, managing a grassroots political and policy operation engaging Americans of all ages but with a special emphasis on the largest segment of voters — the Youth Vote. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, PLG/SFLA/SFLAction serves more than 1,500 groups on middle, high school, college, medical, and law school campuses in all 50 states. Our team has more conversations with this generation targeted by the abortion lobby than any other pro-life operation in the world, each week reaching more than 4 million across social media platforms and averaging 1.3 million video views. In addition to SFLA/SFLAction, PLG leads multiple initiatives to lead and serve the future of the pro-life movement including the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities, Standing With You, and the Demetree Institute for Pro-Life.