Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster if Democrats shut down the federal government again in January, arguing in an interview and op-ed that the tactic harms the economy and no longer serves its purpose.
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" with host Kristen Welker, where he suggested that Senate Republicans should move to end the filibuster if Democrats again force a partial shutdown in January, according to an interview highlighted by The Daily Wire.
Welker pressed Bessent on the political feasibility of his position, pointing out that Senate Republican Leader John Thune has said there are not enough GOP votes to scrap the procedural rule. Bessent replied that his editorial, published in The Washington Post the same day, was intended to "put the Senate on notice," The Daily Wire reported.
In the interview, Bessent recalled a previous shutdown that he blamed on Democrats, arguing that they kept the government closed as a way to block President Trump after failing to stop him through the courts or the media. He cited a column by Ezra Klein in The New York Times and said the episode, in his view, was framed by Klein as being about "stopping totalitarianism," not primarily about health care. Bessent further claimed that the shutdown resulted in a 1.5% hit to gross domestic product and an $11 billion permanent loss, which he cast as evidence that Democrats were willing to harm the public to achieve political goals, according to The Daily Wire account.
"If Senate Democrats close the government again [on January 30], then Senate Republicans should immediately abrogate the filibuster," Bessent said in the "Meet the Press" exchange, as quoted by The Daily Wire. A clip of the same remark was circulated on social media by the account Rapid Response 47 on November 23, 2025.
In his Washington Post op-ed, as summarized by The Daily Wire, Bessent traced the history of the Senate filibuster and described it as an outdated mechanism that now allows a minority to immobilize the chamber. "Today, the minority party can abuse the filibuster to the point of rendering the Senate almost useless as a deliberative body," he wrote.
Bessent also addressed Republican concerns that eliminating the filibuster could later empower Democrats. He argued that Democrats would exploit Senate rules whenever it suits them, invoking a classic prisoner's dilemma from game theory to suggest that a party that always "cooperates" while its opponent "betrays" will consistently lose in repeated political confrontations.
Bessent's comments add to an intensifying debate over Senate rules and the balance of power in Congress as both parties brace for potential fiscal standoffs in the coming months.
