WASHINGTON (AP) — Back from a week abroad, President Donald Trump is calling on the Senate to abolish the filibuster and reopen the government after a month-long shutdown, breaking with the majority of Republicans who have long opposed such a move.
Trump said in a post on his social media page on Thursday: “The choice is clear – initiate the ‘nuclear option,’ get rid of the filibuster.”
Trump’s sudden decision to assert himself in the shutdown debate – bringing with it the highly charged call for an end to the filibuster – is sure to put the Senate on edge. It could spur senators to their own compromise or send the chamber into a recent sense of crisis.
Trump has long called on Republicans to scrap the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections. This goes back to his first term. The rule gives Democrats control of the 53-seat Republican majority and enough votes to keep the government closed while they demand an extension of health care subsidies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and most members of his Republican conference have strongly opposed changing the filibuster, arguing that it is critical to the institution of the Senate and has allowed them to stop Democrats’ policies when they are in the minority.
Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules to end the shutdown, and his spokesman Ryan Wrasse said in a statement Friday that the leader’s “position on the importance of the legislative filibuster remains unchanged.”
Broad GOP support for filibuster
Even if Thune wanted to change the filibuster, he wouldn’t have the votes to do so right now.
“The filibuster is forcing us to find common ground in the Senate,” Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah posted on X Friday morning, responding to Trump’s comments and echoing the sentiments of many of his Republican colleagues in the Senate. “Power changes hands, but principles do not. I am strongly opposed to abolishing them.”
For years, the debate has revolved around the legislative filibuster. Many Democrats pushed to abolish it when they had full power in Washington, as Republicans do now four years ago. However, they ultimately fell low of votes after enough Democratic senators spoke out against the move, predicting that such an action would come back to haunt them.
Speaker Mike Johnson also defended the filibuster on Friday, but admitted: “That’s not my decision.” He criticized Democrats for pushing to abolish it when they were in power.
“The protection in the Senate has always been the filibuster,” Johnson said, adding that Trump’s comments reflected “the president’s anger at the situation.”
Hardly any progress on shutdown
Trump’s call comes as the two parties have made little progress in resolving the shutdown conflict during his week-long stay in Asia. He said in his post that he gave his decision “a lot of thought” on the flight home and that one question that kept coming up during his trip was why “powerful Republicans are allowing Democrats” to shut down parts of the government.
While tranquil talks are underway, particularly between bipartisan senators, the shutdown is not expected to end until next week because both the House and Senate are not in session. Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension of health care subsidies, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government reopens.
As the shutdown stretches from coast to coast, the consequences of the dysfunction of the shuttered federal government are becoming clear: 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. Money for food assistance – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – is running out this weekend.
“People are stressed,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options become increasingly sparse in her state.
“It’s long past time to put this behind us.”
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 and senators left for the long weekend on Thursday.
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 opening up the government,” Thune said.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matt Brown and Josh Boak in Tokyo contributed to this report.
