Several Republican leaders reject Trump’s call to abolish Senate filibuster

President Donald Trump’s push to Senate Republicans for abolishing the 60-vote filibuster rule in order to reopen the shuttered government without Democratic votes is facing a firm resistance from his own party leaders, a rarity for the president in his second term so far. In late-night social media posts on Thursday, Trump wrote, “It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option—Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” “Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.’” However, the top two Republican leaders in Congress are showing no interest in taking the unprecedented step of ending the legislative filibuster.

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In perhaps the clearest possible signal to the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune would not change Senate rules to end the already 31-day stalemate, a spokesman said the Republican leader remained unmoved.

“Leader Thune’s position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” Thune spokesperson Ryan Wrasse said.

Even House Speaker Mike Johnson—who rarely breaks with Trump in public—was cautious about keeping the filibuster intact.

‘Filibuster a very important safeguard’: Speaker Mike Johnson

“The filibuster has traditionally been used as a very important safeguard,” Johnson said, noting that his opinion is “not relevant” since it is a Senate-only issue. But he warned that Democrats would use the move to pass extreme measures the next time they control the upper chamber and said that Trump’s late-night Truth Social post on the filibuster was an “expression of the president’s anger at this situation.”

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Senate Republican leaders have been candid in their support for the 60-vote rule to pass most bills.

The new Majority Leader, John Thune, had promised shortly after the 2024 election that the legislative filibuster would remain unchanged on his watch.

‘Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t’

In a post on X, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said on Friday that he was a “firm no” on getting rid of the filibuster. “The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate,” Curtis said. “Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t. I’m a firm no on eliminating it.”

The talk about the filibuster started on Capitol Hill even before Trump’s comments when Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, appeared on Fox News soon after the shutdown started and urged his party to eliminate the filibuster.

However, various Republican leaders have voiced opposition to the move, including Moreno’s fellow Ohio senator.

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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who asserted that he would resign from the Senate on the same day if Republicans abolish the filibuster, said he doesn’t expect it to be nixed. He recalled that Trump wanted the GOP to eliminate the 60-vote threshold in his first presidential term also in order to pass his agenda.

“We stood firm there. “I can’t imagine anybody changing now,” Tillis said earlier.

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The filibuster rule is unique to the Senate, and it gives the minority the power to block a bill from coming up for a vote as long as at least 41 senators oppose it. Since one party rarely wins more than 60 seats, proponents have argued that the filibuster encourages compromise and makes it more difficult to enact massive partisan reforms.

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