President Trump’s new pressure on Republicans to abandon the Senate filibuster is showing little sign of success, even as lawmakers struggle to find a way out of the ongoing government shutdown.
Trump’s call for Senate Republicans to use the “nuclear option” underscores their growing frustration with the government shutdown.enters its second monthBut it faces stiff obstacles from senators in his own party, who have been staunchly opposed to getting rid of the strategy.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) said position of thun “The importance of the legislative filibuster remains unchanged.”
Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) posted on the social platform X that he “firm noOn abolishing the filibuster.
“The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate. Power changes hands, but principles must not,” Curtis posted.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), while not in the Senate, mostly responded to Trump’s post by pointing out how eliminating the filibuster could backfire to harm Republicans in the future.
Johnson argued that if Democrats had the majority without the filibuster, they would make the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico states, make changes to the Supreme Court, ban firearms, and “do all kinds of things that would be very harmful to the country.”
Johnson said, “Traditionally the filibuster has been viewed as a very important security measure. If the shoe were on the other foot, I don’t think our team would like it.”
Trump threw a curveball into efforts to end the shutdown with his appeal late Thursday to Senate Republicans to get rid of the filibuster and vote unilaterally to reopen the government. The president made the case that failing to nuke the filibuster, which requires a majority of legislation in the Senate to gain 60 votes, could ultimately harm Republicans politically.
Trump posted on Truth Social, “If the Democrats ever come back to power, it will be easier for them. If the Republicans are not using the great power and policies made available to us by ending the filibuster, the Democrats will use their authority, and it will be done on the first day they take office, whether we do it or not.”
This week was not the first time Trump has called for ending the filibuster. He did this many times many times his first termUsing similar logic that the Democrats will try the same if they win the majority.
Then-President Biden, then-Vice President Harris, and some Democratic senators pushed to change the filibuster to pass voting rights and abortion legislation, although itultimately failedTo garner sufficient support within the party.
Trump has largely avoided directly addressing Capitol Hill efforts to end the shutdown, and White House aides have argued thata little encouragementFor the President to be involved because he has carried out his agenda unimpeded. Trump’s latest post came after a trip to Asia, where he worked to strike trade deals with China, Japan, South Korea and other countries.
But some people close to the president suggested the timing of his filibuster post was a reflection of growing frustration over Democrats’ continued refusal to support a GOP-led continuation resolution to fund the government at current levels. Any funding measure in the Senate needs at least seven Democrats to join all 53 Republicans to overcome the filibuster and pass.
“What you’re seeing is an expression of the president’s anger over the situation,” Johnson said. “He’s as angry about this madness as I am, as are the American people. And he just wants the government to be reopened so that all these resources can get to the people who need them most.”
Some Senate Republicans in recent daysdiscussions are taking place rapidlyChanging the rules of the filibuster if Democrats don’t end the shutdown. But doing so would require a majority of Republicans to support the change, and it is unlikely the party will receive the necessary support despite Trump’s insistence.
Instead, Thune and other top Republicans are exploring other ways.break the deadlockAnd end the shutdown because it threatens various government programs and causes problems at major airports.
Thune told reporters on Wednesday that moderate Democrats are looking for an “off-ramp” to end the shutdown, adding that he is willing to talk to them about concessions they have already offered, such as a vote on Democrats’ proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies beyond December.
Trump was not asked about the filibuster on Friday because he was traveling to Florida for the weekend. But he reiterated that he would meet with Democrats to discuss policy matters only after the government reopens.
“I’m always willing to meet. They just have to open up the country,” Trump told reporters. “Let them open the country, and we will meet. We will meet very soon, but they will have to open the country. It is their fault. Everything is their fault.”
