Ignore the Parliamentarian. Include Immigration Reform If You Want To.

For an individual in an advisory position with no basis in the Constitution whatsoever, the Senate parliamentarian certainly has the Democratic majority buffaloed. I think Elizabeth McDonough, the current holder of this purely advisory position, has a lot of people hypnotized into believing she was elected Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. From CNN:

My reaction?

So what?

Do it anyway. Call Vice President Harris out of the bullpen and vote on the bill. If necessary, thank Ms. McDonough for the service she’s performed for her $172,000-a-year and shuffle her out the door. Stand the gaff, if necessary. (When then-Vice President Nelson Rockefeller ignored the parliamentarian’s advice back in 1975, everybody had a conniption fit. That was the last time any vice president, as presiding officer of the Senate—an office that has genuine constitutional authority—did so. It was almost 50 years ago.) Even more than the untoward reverence as regards the filibuster, the acquiescence of constitutional officers toward the illusion of the parliamentarian’s power is an inexplicable phenomenon of institutional bone-worshipping. This is the second time McDonough has ruled in this way on immigration, which is absurd, because there never should have been a first time. The Senate is clearly a place of magic spells.

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