Republicans running in Senate primaries have a new litmus test for who the Trumpiest candidate is: Do you support nuking the filibuster?
President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster — something that would require support from a majority of senators. Trump also made this push during his first term, but his efforts now have been significantly more intense.
Republican Senate leadership has been adamantly against using the so-called “nuclear option” to end the 60-vote threshold for most legislation, and much of the conference is as well. But the 42-day government shutdown made Trump more aggressive in telling Republicans to change the rules to allow for a simple majority vote.
There currently aren’t enough Republicans in the Senate who support the nuclear option, but that could change in 2026. A NOTUS survey of Republican Senate candidates across the country found that, in most cases, there is at least openness to abolishing the filibuster — if not outright support to do so….