Republican lawmakers are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s renewed call for the party’s lawmakers to scrap the legislative filibuster, despite the government shutdown stretching into a record second month.
“The filibuster has traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this week, warning that ending the filibuster could hurt Republicans if Democrats take control of Congress in the future, reported The Hill on Saturday.
“If the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t think our team would like it,” the Louisiana Republican said, noting that Democrats would be able to push sweeping changes such as making the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico states, restructuring the Supreme Court or imposing gun bans.
On Thursday, Trump urged GOP senators to invoke the “nuclear option” and end the 60-vote threshold required to pass most legislation, arguing it would allow Republicans to unilaterally vote to reopen the government.
The president warned that failing to act could backfire politically if Democrats regain power.
“If the Democrats ever came back into power … they will exercise their rights, and it will be done in the first day they take office,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Regardless of whether or not we do it.”
Other Republicans have immediately rejected the idea, though, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., whose spokesman said that his position on the importance of the legislative filibuster has not changed.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, meanwhile, posted on X that he was a “firm no” on eliminating the rule.
“The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate. Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t,” he wrote.
Trump’s comments came as the shutdown continues to disrupt government services and create delays at major airports.
The impasse has persisted as Democrats refuse to back a GOP-led continuing resolution that would fund the government at current levels.
Senate Republicans would need at least seven Democratic votes to reach the 60-vote threshold required to advance such a measure.
Some of Trump’s allies described his post as an expression of frustration over the stalemate.
“He is as angry as I am, as the American people are about this madness,” Johnson said. “He just desperately wants the government to be reopened so that all these resources can flow to the people who need it so much.”
While some Republicans have floated changing Senate rules if Democrats continue to block funding measures, the party appears far short of the support needed to make such a move.
Thune and other GOP leaders are instead exploring bipartisan alternatives to resolve the shutdown.
Thune said moderate Democrats are seeking an “off-ramp,” noting that he’s open to negotiations that include votes on Democratic priorities, such as extending Affordable Care Act subsidies beyond December.
Trump, returning from a trip to Asia where he negotiated trade agreements, told reporters Friday he would not meet with Democrats until the government reopens.
“I’m always willing to meet,” he said. “All they have to do is open up the country … It’s their fault. Everything is their fault.”
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