WASHINGTON (AP) — Returning from a week abroad, President Donald Trump called on the Senate to abolish the filibuster and reopen the government after a month-long government shutdown, breaking with majority Republicans who have long opposed such a move.
“The choice is clear – activate the ‘nuclear option’ and eliminate the filibuster,” President Trump said in a post on his social media site Thursday.
Mr. Trump’s sudden decision to make his case in the closing debate, bringing with him a very tough demand to end the filibuster, is sure to make the Senate nervous. That could prompt senators to compromise themselves or stir a new sense of crisis in the chamber.
President Trump has long urged Republicans to eliminate Senate rules requiring 60 votes to overcome opposition, dating back to his first term in office. The rules allow Democrats to suppress the 53-seat Republican majority, giving them enough votes to keep the government shut down while seeking an extension of health care subsidies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and most members of the Republican conference strongly oppose changes to the filibuster, arguing that it is critical to the Senate system and allows Democrats to halt policy when in the minority.
Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules to end the government shutdown, and his press secretary Ryan Russ said in a statement Friday that “the party’s position on the importance of the legislative filibuster has not changed.”
Broad Republican support for the filibuster
Even if Thune wanted to change the filibuster, he currently doesn’t have the votes to do so.
Sen. John Curtis, Republican of Utah, responded to President Trump’s comments on Friday morning, echoing the sentiments of many of his Senate Republican colleagues, posting, “The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate.” “Power changes hands, but principle should not. I am firmly opposed to the removal of power.”
Controversy has swirled around the filibuster in Congress for years. Many Democrats pushed for its repeal four years ago, when they held all the power in Washington, much like Republicans do now. However, they ultimately failed to get a vote because enough Democratic senators opposed the move and predicted that such an act would come back to haunt them.
Speaker Mike Johnson also defended the filibuster on Friday, but acknowledged that “it’s not my mandate.” He criticized Democrats for pushing to repeal it when they were in power.
“The safeguard in the Senate was always the filibuster,” Johnson said, adding that Trump’s comments were “the president’s anger at the situation.”
Shutdown is barely progressing
Trump’s call came while he was away in Asia for a week and the two countries have made little progress in resolving the standoff over the government shutdown. He said in a post that he thought about his choices “a lot” on the flight home, and that one of the questions that lingered throughout the trip was why “powerful Republicans would allow Democrats to shut down parts of the government.”
There have been quiet discussions, especially among bipartisan senators, but with both houses of Congress in session, the shutdown is not expected to end until next week. Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension of health care subsidies, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.
As the shutdown drags on, the fallout spreads from coast to coast. Shut down federal government dysfunction Alaskans are stockpiling elk, caribou and fish for winter. SNAP food assistance to be stopped. Maine residents are filling up their home-heating oil tanks, but waiting with federal aid nowhere to be found.
flight is delayed Holiday travel is just around the corner. Workers continue to work without pay. And Americans are getting their first glimpse of that world. Rising medical insurance costs They are at the center of the Capitol stalemate. Funds for food assistance (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)) will begin to run out starting this weekend.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said “people are stressed” as food options become scarce in her state.
“It’s long past time to end this.”
Military funding costs money, but food aid does not.
The White House has moved funds to ensure payments for the military, but has refused to tap into funding for food aid. In fact, President Trump “Big and beautiful bill” Signed into law this summer, it provides the largest reductions ever. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ProgramThe program, known as SNAP, is expected to drop about 2.4 million people from the program.
At the same time, many Americans who buy their health insurance through the federal and state marketplaces, which also opened on Saturday, are experiencing sticker shock due to soaring premiums.
“We are holding food over poor people’s heads to take away their health care,” the Rev. Ryan Stoss said during a prayer with religious leaders at the Capitol.
“God help us when it comes to brutality,” he said.
Deadline moves to next week
The House of Commons has remained closed for the past month under Johnson, with senators leaving for the long weekend on Thursday.
This means that if the filibuster continues, the shutdown will likely extend into its 30th day for another week. If the shutdown continues, the following may occur: longest in historyover the U.S.-Mexico border wall request, which exceeded the 35-day expiration period that ended in 2019 during President Trump’s first term.
The next inflection point will come after Tuesday’s off-year election. new york mayoral electionsimilarly Virginia and New Jersey elections This will determine the governors of those states. Many expect that once the winners and losers are clear and Democrats and Republicans assess their political positions among voters, they will be ready to work hard toward a deal.
“I hope this frees people up to move forward with opening up the government,” Thun said.
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Associated Press writers Mary Claire Jalonick, Matt Brown and Josh Bork in Tokyo contributed to this report.
