U.S. President Donald Trump has a solution to the government shutdown, which has now extended for over a month. On Thursday, he wrote on Truth Social, “Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!”
The government has been on shutdown for 35 days now, the longest ever in history, after both Republicans and Democrats failed to come to an agreement on the bill funding the government.
On another post, Trump wrote, “THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE “NUCLEAR OPTION,” GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Filibuster is a congressional norm that requires a vote of 60 senators to clear a bill instead of a simple majority of 51, Politico reported. It is unique to the Senate and gives the minority the power to block a bill from being voted on, as long as 41 senators oppose it.
Many have argued that the rule prevents parties from enacting major partisan reforms since it always requires both parties coming to a compromise.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has previously spoken against removing the norm, saying that it was a “bulwark against a lot of really bad things.”
Trump made the posts while flying back from South Korea. He said that he thought a lot about how the Democrats were able to shut down the government. He added that the Democrats would get rid of the filibuster if they had gotten the chance.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and a few others have called for changes to the filibuster rules during former President Joe Biden’s term.
Trump's demand, however, would see some pushback from his own party. Some Republican senators have been open to removing the rules, while some haven't, Politico reported. There are just 53 GOP members in the Senate, so getting rid of it wouldn't be that easy.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford all opposed the idea last week.
It is not the first time the US president has called for changes to the Filibuster rule. He called the norm a “ joke during his first term in 2017 and said that it was “killing” the GOP and “allows 8 Dems to control [the] country.”
In 2018, too, he called for Republicans to use the ‘Nuclear Option’ to pass tough laws.