What to know about the Senate filibuster as Trump calls on GOP to eliminate it
As the government shutdown nears becoming the longest in U.S. history, President Donald Trump has called on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster in order to bring the stalemate on Capitol Hill to an end.
But, as before, they're not going along with his demands to change the traditional rule.
"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!" Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform overnight.
With a 53-47 majority, gutting the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass a bill to fund the government without any Democrat support.
Trump's call comes at a critical time in the shutdown, with millions of Americans set to lose SNAP benefits over the weekend as program funding runs dry and Affordable Cart Act recipients are faced with higher insurance premiums as open enrollment begins.
What is the filibuster?
The long-standing rule allows any one senator to block or delay action on a bill or other matter by extending debate.
It requires 60 votes, or three-fifths of the Senate, to end debate and advance legislation to a final vote -- when it then needs just a simple majority to pass.
The filibuster's unlimited debate first emerged in the 19th century. In 1917, the Senate adopted Rule 22 that made it possible to break a filibuster with a cloture vote, giving rise to the modern-day filibuster.
It’s a tool that empowers the minority party, but has frustrated majorities for decades.
Trump in his first term sought several times to end the filibuster but faced Republican pushback. Former President Joe Biden said he supported making changes to the filibuster to codify abortion rights and pass voting rights legislation.
What is the 'nuclear option' in the Senate?
Senators have carved out exceptions to the filibuster before.
Changes were made during the Obama administration to lower the threshold needed to confirm judicial and executive branch nominees to a simple majority. Senate Republican leadership, in President Trump’s first term, did the same for Supreme Court nominees.
These changes eliminating the three-fifths threshold have been colloquially termed "going nuclear."
But both parties have expressed fear in nuking the filibuster completely out of fear it will come back to haunt them when they lose majority in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, earlier in this shutdown, said eliminating the filibuster is something that should be avoided "at all costs." After Trump's new call to end the filibuster, a spokesperson for Thune said his "position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged."
