What is the role of the parliamentarians in the U.S. Congress?

The legislative business of the U.S. Congress is governed by parliamentary procedure—agreed-upon and published rules, precedents, and practices that organize and direct legislators’ work in session. These rules are set to maintain decorum, determine the will of the majority, preserve the rights of the minority, and facilitate the orderly transaction of business. Because these procedures can be incredibly complex, each chamber of Congress has a parliamentarian who provides authoritative, objective, and nonpartisan guidance on how rules and precedents should be interpreted and applied. The office of the parliamentarian has its roots in Article I, Section 5, of the U.S. Constitution, which authorizes each chamber to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings” and requires it to keep a journal of its actions. The speaker of the House appoints the House parliamentarian; the Senate parliamentarian serves at the pleasure of the secretary of the Senate, who is elected by senators at the start of each Congress. There are no term limits on service in either chamber.

The parliamentarian’s office advises legislators and their staffs, committees, and each chamber’s presiding officer on legislative procedure and precedent. This includes interpreting standing rules and precedents, advising on the wording of motions, helping formulate statements, and answering parliamentary inquiries or points of order. Members can consult the parliamentarian in advance of introducing legislation or a motion and receive confidential written guidance. In addition, the parliamentarian refers to the appropriate committee legislation from the other chamber, communications from other branches of government and state and local governments, and petitions from private citizens.

When the House or Senate is in session, the parliamentarian or a member of the parliamentarian’s staff is on the floor to provide immediate assistance to the presiding representative or senator. In the House the parliamentarian sits on the top tier of the dais, near the right hand of the presiding member; in the Senate the parliamentarian is seated at the rostrum below the presiding officer’s desk.

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Although a parliamentarian’s decision is not binding and may be accepted or rejected, a central part of the parliamentarian’s job is to apply precedent consistently under the jurisprudential principle of stare decisis (Latin: “let the decision stand”), or adherence to earlier decisions. Stare decisis ensures that congressional processes are reliable and consistent. Members may appeal the presiding officer’s ruling, but, given a commitment to nonpartisan conduct and adherence to precedent, in practice the parliamentarian’s advice carries significant weight and is generally considered final. The parliamentarian’s office is responsible for documenting and publishing the rules and precedents of its chamber. These publications provide guidance on legislative procedure and ensure consistency, transparency, and rigor in parliamentary analysis.

As nonpartisan members of the congressional staff, most parliamentarians serve across administrations and Congresses, but occasionally they have been replaced in the Senate when a new party takes over the leadership. Only once has a parliamentarian been fired over specific procedural disagreements: In May 2001 Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had Senate Parliamentarian Robert Dove fired after a series of rulings that Lott believed favored Democrats too heavily. Pres. Donald Trump called for the firing of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough in May 2026, after she ruled that $1 billion in White House security funding, including funding connected to President Trump’s ballroom construction, could not be included as written in an immigration enforcement bill.