WASHINGTON (AP) — Seemingly frustrated by the government shutdown and Democrats’ unwillingness to accept a Republican funding bill, President Donald Trump is again calling on the Senate to eliminate the legislative filibuster.
The filibuster is a longstanding parliamentary tool that stops the passage of most bills unless 60 senators in the 100-member chamber vote to advance. Over the years, it has hampered the policy priorities of Democrats and Republicans alike, and Trump has complained about the maneuver since his first term in the White House.
Abolition would be a way for Republicans to immediately end the now months-long shutdown, he said. “Now is the time for Republicans to play their ‘TRUM CARD’ and choose the so-called nuclear option – get rid of the filibuster, NOW!” the president wrote on his social media page on Thursday evening.
But the majority of Republicans have strongly resisted calls to eliminate the legislative filibuster, saying it would weaken their power if they were back in the minority. At its best, the filibuster encourages compromise and deals.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the filibuster and why it’s now popping up in the shutdown debate.
What is a filibuster?
Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate hardly restricts lawmakers’ right to speak. But senators can utilize the chamber’s rules to obstruct or block votes. That’s essentially what a filibuster is – a term that first appeared in the mid-19th century, according to Senate records.
The filibuster is not in the Constitution and was not part of the Founding Fathers’ vision for the Senate. According to historians, it was created inadvertently after Vice President Aaron Burr complained in 1805 that the Chamber’s rules were unnecessary and overly complicated.
But how the filibuster is used today does not reflect the long-standing public perception of the tactic, made famed by the 1939 film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” in which James Stewart played a senator who talked to the point of exhaustion on the floor.
Now senators inform their leaders — and often confirm publicly — that they will veto a bill. No long speeches required. However, the Senate still needs to muster 60 votes to overcome this obstacle. If they achieve this, senators can move on to final passage, which only requires a plain majority.
Wait – isn’t the filibuster already gone?
Yes, but only for nominations. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., led Senate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster for all nominations except Supreme Court nominees, triggering what is known in the Senate as the “nuclear option.” Democrats were fed up with Republicans repeatedly stalling President Barack Obama’s nominees, particularly before the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, then the minority leader, angrily warned Democrats that they would regret switching to nuclear power. And he returned the favor in 2017, when Republicans tried to eliminate the filibuster against Supreme Court nominees when they confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the high court.
Trump mentioned in his Truth Social post that eliminating the filibuster would support Republicans get the “best judges” and the “best U.S. attorneys,” but it’s unclear what he meant since he only needs a plain majority to install those nominees.
Democrats were close to dropping the legislative filibuster on voting rights legislation in 2022, but faced resistance from then-senators. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. They said changes to the filibuster would burden Democrats if Republicans regained control of Congress and the White House – which Republicans did not long after.
Earlier this year, Republicans further changed Senate rules to make it easier to confirm vast groups of the least controversial executive branch nominees. But they have resisted calls from Trump to eliminate so-called “blue slips” that allow both senators to sign on some lower court judges regardless of party.
What does this have to do with the shutdown?
As with any government funding bill — and most other legislation — Republicans will need the support of at least a handful of Democrats to overcome the 60-vote hurdle in the Senate, since they only have 53 votes.
In exchange for their vote on an emergency funding bill, most Democrats are demanding an expansion of subsidies for people who buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say it’s a costly false start, especially on a bill intended to keep the federal government in office for just seven weeks.
Democrats argue this gives them leverage because the Senate needs 60 votes to advance funding legislation. As the shutdown drags on, frustrated Republicans have floated the idea of eliminating the filibuster to eliminate that influence.
“Maybe it’s time to think about the filibuster,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said on Fox News earlier this month. “Let’s just vote with the Republicans. We have 52 Republicans. Let’s go and open the government. It could come to that.” (There are 53 Republican senators, but one — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul — is a firm “no” to funding bills.)
How do Republicans feel about dropping the filibuster?
Unlike many of Trump’s other demands, Republican senators have generally resisted his calls to get rid of the filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has long defended the filibuster and began his tenure as the Senate’s top official in January promising to preserve it.
He reiterated those views in early October, saying the filibuster is “something that makes the Senate the Senate” and that “the 60-vote threshold has protected this country.” His spokesman emphasized on Friday after Trump’s comments that Thune’s position had not changed.
Veteran senators who have seen the chamber swing back and forth from Democratic to Republican control are generally the ones most vocal about maintaining the filibuster. But some newer members also agree.
“The filibuster is forcing us to find common ground in the Senate,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, elected in 2024, said on social media Friday. “Power changes hands, but principles do not. I am strongly opposed to abolishing them.”
House Republicans often influence Senate strategy, calling on Republican senators to follow Trump’s wishes and abolish the filibuster. But members of the House of Representatives, unfortunately for them, have no influence over what the Senate does.
Speaker Mike Johnson said he texted the president after Trump’s late-night demand but declined to comment publicly on the filibuster issue.
“It’s not my decision,” Johnson said during his daily news conference at the Capitol.
