President Trump urged Senate Republicans to end the filibuster, the longstanding rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation, in order to reopen the government without the support of Democrats.
“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” he wrote on Truth Social, while criticizing Democrats’ healthcare demands at the center of the current impasse. Trump said that Democrats would end the filibuster if they ever won back the Senate, so Republicans should go ahead and do it now.
“If we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN,’ ” he wrote.
Government funding lapsed on Oct. 1 after a stopgap spending bill passed by the Republican-led House fell five votes short of the 60 needed in the Senate. Since then, Democrats have blocked the bill more than a dozen times, saying they won’t provide the votes to reopen until Republicans negotiate a deal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act health-insurance subsidies.
The standoff has frustrated many Senate Republicans, prompting some to float the idea of ending the filibuster rather than continuing to try to reach a deal with Democrats.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) and other GOP senators have promised to protect the filibuster. Thune said last week it would be a “bad idea” to kill the rule to end the shutdown. Last fall, before the presidential election, Thune said Senate Republicans would have to resist calls from Trump to nuke the filibuster, “and I hope that he understands that.”
Eliminating the filibuster would allow the majority party to pass legislation with just 51 votes and would have far-reaching consequences for how Congress operates. Democrats tried to weaken the rule during President Joe Biden’s administration, but centrist Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema blocked the effort, saying it would undercut the need for compromise in the chamber and lead to wild swings in policy. Manchin and Sinema later retired as independents….