President Donald Trump urged Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster to bring an end to the month-long government shutdown on Thursday evening.
In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump noted that Democrats had previously tried to abolish the Senate rule when they controlled Congress and the White House during the Biden administration. That effort was blocked by then-Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have since left the Democratic Party to become independents.
Trump renewed calls for the so-called “nuclear option” shortly after returning from his trip to Asia.
“The one question that kept coming up, however, was how did the Democrats SHUT DOWN the United States of America, and why did the powerful Republicans allow them to do it?” Trump wrote. “The fact is, in flying back, I thought a great deal about that question, WHY?”
The president praised Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson for “doing a GREAT job,” while accusing Democrats of being “crazed lunatics” suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“They want Trillions of Dollars to be taken from our Healthcare System and given to others, who are not deserving — People who have come into our Country illegally, many from prisons and mental institutions,” Trump wrote. “This will hurt American citizens, and Republicans will not let it happen.”
The government shutdown entered its fourth week Thursday, with both parties trading blame over stalled negotiations to restore funding.
Trump added that Republicans, now in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, should “play their Trump card” and invoke the “nuclear option.”
“Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” he wrote.
He argued that Democrats “fought so hard” to end the filibuster during the Biden years but failed. Now, he said, Republicans should do so to advance their agenda and reopen the government.
“[I]f we did what we should be doing, it would immediately end this ridiculous, country-destroying shutdown,” Trump said, adding that Democrats would “do it on their first day” if they regained power.
The president also referenced former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2013 decision to lower the 60-vote threshold for most executive branch and judicial nominees, when Democrats controlled the Senate. The chamber voted 52–48 to end the rule, a move Trump suggested Republicans should now replicate for legislation.
“In addition to all of the other things we would get, such as the best Judges, the best U.S. Attorneys, the best of everything, this was a concept from years ago of then President Barack Hussein Obama and former Majority Leader Harry Reid in order to take advantage of the Republicans,” Trump wrote. “Now I want to do it in order to take advantage of the Democrats.”
