President Donald Trump on Wednesday, November 5, intensified his push to end the Senate filibuster, urging Republican senators at a White House meeting to act immediately to reopen the government as the federal shutdown reached its longest stretch on record. GOP leaders, however, signaled they lack the votes to change the rules.
President Donald Trump met with Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday and called on them to “terminate the filibuster” to advance a short-term funding bill and reopen the government, now in its 36th day and the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The filibuster requires 60 votes to end debate on most legislation. (reuters.com)
“It’s very important. We have to get the country open, and the way we’re going to do it this afternoon is to terminate the filibuster … It’s time,” Trump told lawmakers during the breakfast meeting, according to remarks captured by press in the room. He and allies also argued Democrats would scrap the rule if they regained power. (reuters.com)
Trump said ending the rule would clear the way for Republican priorities once the government is reopened, including election legislation such as a national voter ID requirement and curbs on mail-in voting. Republicans currently lack the 60 votes needed to advance their funding measure without Democratic support. (reuters.com)
But Senate leaders showed little appetite for the change. “I know where the math is on this issue in the Senate, and it’s not happening,” Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters after the meeting, reiterating that Republicans do not have the votes to scrap the rule. (reuters.com)
Inside the room, exchanges at times grew pointed. After the cameras left, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Trump engaged in a “spirited back‑and‑forth” over the filibuster, according to CNN’s reporting from the meeting. (This account has not been independently described by other outlets.)
Trump’s pressure came a day after off‑year elections in which Democrats posted gains in several states. He has publicly tied GOP setbacks to the shutdown and argued that eliminating the 60‑vote threshold would allow Republicans to quickly pass a stopgap funding bill and other priorities. (apnews.com)
Axios reported this week that Trump planned to make Senate Republicans’ lives “a living hell” if they resisted his push to “nuke” the filibuster—a threat echoed in subsequent coverage by other outlets. GOP leaders have thus far kept their opposition. (mediaite.com)
Democrats sought to change Senate rules during President Joe Biden’s term but failed to unite their caucus. In January 2022, a bid to create a filibuster carve‑out for voting‑rights legislation fell 52–48 when Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona joined Republicans to block the rules change. (cnbc.com)
