WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is calling on the Senate to abolish the filibuster so the Republican majority can bypass Democrats and reopen the federal government.
“The choice is clear – initiate the ‘nuclear option,’ get rid of the filibuster,” Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social on Thursday evening.
The filibuster is a long-standing tactic in the Senate to delay or block votes on legislation by keeping debate going. It takes 60 votes in a full Senate to overcome a filibuster, giving Democrats control of the 53-seat Republican majority that led to the shutdown Oct. 1 at the start of the up-to-date fiscal year.
Trump’s call to end the filibuster could change the way the Senate and Congress approach dealmaking. The president said in his post that he thought “greatly” about the decision on his flight back from Asia on Thursday.
Trump spent the past week meeting with foreign leaders in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea and ended his trip with a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The president declared the trip a success because of a trade peace with China and planned foreign investment in American industries, but said questions arose during his time there about why “powerful Republicans” allowed Democrats to shut down parts of the government.
His call to end the filibuster came at a time when certain senators and House Speaker Mike Johnson believed it was time to end the government shutdown. It’s unclear whether lawmakers will follow Trump’s lead instead of finding ways to negotiate with Democrats.
From coast to coast, the consequences of the dysfunction of a closed federal government are striking: Alaskans are stockpiling elk, caribou and fish for the winter even before SNAP food aid is scheduled to end. Mainers are filling up their heating oil tanks but waiting for federal subsidies that are nowhere in sight.
Flights are delayed as holiday travel is just around the corner. Workers have to go without a paycheck. And Americans are getting their first glimpse of the skyrocketing health insurance costs that are at the center of the standoff on Capitol Hill.
“People are stressed,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options become increasingly meager in her state.
“It’s long past time to put this behind us.”
While silent talks are underway, particularly between bipartisan senators, the shutdown is not expected to end before Saturday’s deadline, when Americans’ deep food insecurity – one in eight people rely on the government to provide enough to eat – could be on full display as federal SNAP funds run out.
Money for the military, but no food aid
The White House has shifted money to ensure the military is paid but has refused to allocate money for food aid. In fact, Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which took effect this summer, resulted in the largest cut ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and is expected to result in approximately 2.4 million people dropping out of the program.
At the same time, many Americans who buy their own health insurance through the federal and state marketplaces, with enrollment also beginning Saturday, are experiencing sticker shock as premium prices rise.
“We hold food over poor people’s heads so we can take away health care,” the Rev. Ryan Stoess said during a prayer with religious leaders at the U.S. Capitol.
“God help us,” he said, “when it comes to cruelty.”
The deadlines are postponed until next week
The House of Representatives remained closed under Johnson last month. The Senators are preparing to leave on Thursday for the long weekend. Trump returns delayed Thursday after a turbulent trip to Asia.
That means the Day 30 shutdown will likely last another week if the filibuster continues. If the shutdown continues, it could become the longest in history, surpassing the 35-day period that ended in 2019, during Trump’s first term, over his demands to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The next tipping point comes after Tuesday’s off-year elections – the race for New York City mayor, as well as elections in Virginia and New Jersey that will determine those states’ governors. Many believe that after the winners and losers are announced and their political standing among voters is assessed, Democrats and Republicans may be ready to strike a deal.
“I hope it gives people the freedom to move forward with the reopening of government,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Republicans cut SNAP in Trump’s huge bill
Republicans, who hold the majority in Congress, find themselves in an unusual position, defending furloughed federal workers and the canceled programs they have long wanted to cut – including most recently the nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Trump’s major tax breaks and spending bill.
Medicaid, the health care program, and SNAP food assistance suffered significant setbacks this summer, including with the imposition of up-to-date work requirements. For SNAP recipients, many of whom were already required to work, the up-to-date requirements extend to older Americans up to age 64 and parents of older school-age children.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans now “have the courage” to suggest that withholding food aid is a political strategy.
“We’re trying to improve the quality of life for the American people,” New York’s Jeffries said of his party.
“The American people understand that there is a Republican health crisis,” he said. “The American people understand that Republicans made the largest cut to food aid in American history when they eliminated $186 billion from their one big, ugly bill.”
During the summer debate over Trump’s major bill, Johnson and other Republicans railed against what they called inactive Americans riding on what the House speaker called a “gravy train” of government benefits.
The speaker spoke about hearty adolescent men playing video games while receiving Medicaid health benefits and insisted that the up-to-date work requirements for the assistance programs would stamp out what they called “waste, fraud and abuse.”
“What we’re talking about are able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they’re manipulating the system,” Johnson said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” this spring.
“And if we get it working, it will be better for everyone, a win-win-win for everyone,” he said.
What remains out of reach for now is relief from up-to-date health care prices released this week that are expected to put insurance out of reach for many Americans when federal subsidies that facilitate offset those costs expire at the end of the year.
Democrats are waiting for negotiations with Trump and Republicans to maintain these subsidies. Republicans say they could address the issue later, once the government returns to power.
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown and Josh Boak in Tokyo contributed to this report.
