President Donald Trump is urging Senate leadership to initiate the “nuclear option” to finally bring the Democrat-induced government shutdown to an end.
Trump called for the Senate to nuke the filibuster one month into the shutdown as Democrats show no signs of flipping. For the last 31 days, all but three Democrats have voted to keep the government closed, leaving the government five votes short of reopening.
‘We should avoid that at all costs.’
“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!” Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday night.
“Now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN,’” Trump added.
Trump also claimed that if Republicans do not end the filibuster, the Democrats will someday.
“If the Democrats ever came back into power, which would be made easier for them if the Republicans are not using the Great Strength and Policies made available to us by ending the Filibuster, the Democrats will exercise their rights, and it will be done in the first day they take office, regardless of whether or not we do it,” Trump warned.
Trump noted that just two senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — prevented Democrats from ending the filibuster during Biden’s term in office.
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Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Although Trump’s demands often dictate the party’s next move, nuking the filibuster has not been a popular play among Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has been a strong institutionalist and vocal defender of the filibuster, which essentially gives the minority party veto power on legislation unless 60 senators agree to pass it. In the early days of the shutdown, Thune admitted that nuking the filibuster was a “possibility” but strongly advised against it.
“Well, there’s always that possibility,” Thune told reporters. “We put up with it, obviously, in his first term as president. I could see at some point that being a potential conversation. But that’s not good for anybody. … We should avoid that at all costs.”
Thune’s Republican colleague Sen. John Curtis of Utah similarly cautioned against eliminating the filibuster, saying it “forces us to find common ground in the Senate.”
“Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t,” Curtis said in a post on X. “I’m a firm no on eliminating it.”
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump, on the other hand, has a long-standing record criticizing the filibuster. In 2017, Trump called the filibuster a “joke,” saying it was “killing” the Republican majority in the Senate at the time.
With no end in sight, the government shutdown could very well surpass the record-breaking 35-day shutdown in Trump’s first term.
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