Republicans in Congress have largely gone along with President Donald Trump’s agenda this year, but his push to eliminate the Senate filibuster is hitting a wall.
According to The Associated Press, the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, “makes the Senate the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said, noting there simply aren’t enough votes to change the rules.
Thune and other Republicans have stressed that the filibuster has historically benefited their party when Democrats hold power.
Trump, however, has continued to pressure Senate Republicans.
At a Wednesday breakfast and later in a video posted online, he renewed his call to end the filibuster, lower the legislative threshold to 51 votes, and break the government shutdown stalemate.
“Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t terminate the filibuster,” Trump warned.
Returning to the Capitol, Thune remained firm. “I know where the math is on this issue in the Senate and it’s not happening,” he said.
Several Republicans echoed Thune’s position.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming and former GOP leader Mitch McConnell opposed changing the rule.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Trump did not sway her during the White House breakfast.
Utah Sen. John Curtis called the filibuster essential for finding common ground, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said, “with metaphysical certainty this Congress is not going to nuke the filibuster, period, full stop.”
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Thune, saying the filibuster protects Republicans from “the worst impulses of the far-left Democrat Party.”
Trump acknowledged the tension in an interview on Fox News, noting the push could strain his relationships with Republicans who “have been good to me for a very long period of time.”
He asked rhetorically, “Do you ever have people that are wrong but you can’t convince them? So do you destroy your whole relationship with them or not? I’d be close to losing it, but probably not.”
Still, a few Republican senators sided with Trump. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville called for lowering the threshold to 51 votes, saying, “If we don’t, we’re going to lose our country. It’s over.” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said Trump made “a very convincing case” and argued Republicans cannot simply sit back and let Democrats act first.
Trump has also pressed for other changes, including eliminating “blue slips” in the Senate Judiciary Committee to speed judicial confirmations, but Thune and Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley have resisted.
He floated the idea of recess appointments late last year but dropped it after Republicans swiftly confirmed his Cabinet picks.
While both parties have already lowered the threshold to 51 votes for executive and judicial nominations, the legislative filibuster remains intact. Thune called it “a bulwark against really bad things happening to the country.”
Despite Trump’s aggressive push, Republican leadership and a majority of senators appear determined to preserve the Senate’s longstanding rules.
