President Trump is calling on the Senate to scrap the filibuster, so that the Republican majority can bypass Democrats and reopen the federal government.
“THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER,” Trump posted Thursday night on his social media site, Truth Social.
The filibuster is a long-standing tactic in the Senate to delay or block votes on legislation by keeping the debate running. It requires 60 votes in a full Senate to overcome a filibuster, giving Democrats a check on the 53-seat Republican majority that led to the start of the Oct. 1 shutdown when the new fiscal year began.
Mr. Trump’s call to terminate the filibuster could alter the ways the Senate and congressional dealmaking operate, with the president saying in his post that he gave a “great deal” of thought to the choice on his flight back from Asia on Thursday.
CBS News has reached out to Senate Majority Leader John Thune for comment. The Senate adjourned on Thursday and is not schedule to meet again until Monday.
Mr. Trump spent the past week with foreign leaders in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The president declared the trip a success because of a trade truce with China and foreign investment planned for American industries, but he said one question kept coming up during his time there about why did “powerful Republicans allow” the Democrats to shut down parts of the government.
His call to end the filibuster came at a moment when certain senators and House Speaker Mike Johnson believed it was time for the government shutdown to come to an end. It’s unclear if lawmakers will follow Mr. Trump’s lead, rather than finding ways to negotiate with Democrats.
From coast to coast, fallout from a shuttered federal government is hitting home: Alaskans are stockpiling moose, caribou and fish for winter, even before SNAP food aid is scheduled to shut off. Mainers are filling up their home-heating oil tanks, but waiting on the federal subsidies that are nowhere in sight.
Flights are being delayed with holiday travel around the corner. Workers are going without paychecks. And Americans are getting a first glimpse of the skyrocketing health care insurance costs that are at the center of the stalemate on Capitol Hill.
“People are stressing,” said Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options in her state grow scarce.
“We are well past time to have this behind us.”
While quiet talks are underway, particularly among bipartisan senators, the shutdown is not expected to end before Saturday’s deadline when Americans’ deep food insecurity — one in eight people depend on the government to have enough to eat — could become starkly apparent if federal SNAP funds run dry.