Obamacare's little secret: Meet the most important person you don't know.
Elizabeth MacDonough holds no elected office. Few people outside of Capitol Hill even know her name. And forget about knowing her political leanings or loyalties.
But she may very well be the most powerful person in Washington in determining how far Republicans can go in trying to repeal Obamacare.
As the Senate parliamentarian, MacDonough will make the decisions on which pieces of the law qualify to be repealed using a complicated budget procedure called reconciliation. Her decisions would allow Senate Republicans to vote to kill major provisions of the health care law under a simple 51-vote majority without giving Democrats a chance to filibuster.
Republicans have not yet decided whether to use reconciliation — and whether to use it for Obamacare or tax reform. MacDonough would have a pivotal role in either scenario.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/senate-parliamentarian-elizabeth-macdonough-obamacare-114274.html
