Senate parliamentarian may have just stopped anti-trans measures from passing

[Jessica_Rose]

The Senate parliamentarian may have just stopped anti-trans measures from passing

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/06/the-senate-parliamentarian-may-have-just-stopped-anti-trans-measures-from-passing/

Alex Bollinger (26 June)

The Senate parliamentarian has blocked one of the anti-trans measures included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the major spending bill that Congressional Republicans are trying to pass under reconciliation.

The Senate requires 60 votes to end a filibuster and pass most legislation, meaning that some Democrats must support most bills for them to pass through Congress. Budget measures can pass with only 50 votes, though, under a process known as reconciliation.

House Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last month and included bans on Medicaid and CHIP paying for gender-affirming care for transgender people. The House version also banned policies sold in health care exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) from covering gender-affirming care. If passed, these measures will be devastating for transgender people who depend on these programs for health care and could force people to detransition.

But the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled earlier today that these three measures violated the Byrd Rule, which only allows budget measures to pass under reconciliation, Axios reports. This means that the Senate will need to secure the support of at least seven Democrats to pass the bill with these measures included.