The morning after a dominant Democratic performance in the 2025 elections, Donald Trump had one priority on his mind in remarks to Senate Republicans: eliminate the filibuster.
Trump on the need to abolish the filibuster: "It will be impossible to beat us."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-11-05T13:41:54.527Z
Repeatedly at his White House event, Trump implored GOP senators to execute the so-called nuclear option and bring a rapid end to legislative filibusters, claiming that such a move would make it “impossible to beat” Republicans in upcoming elections. “If we do what I’m saying,” he added, Democrats will “most likely never obtain power.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after the gathering, “I know that where the math is on this issue in the Senate, and it’s not — it’s just not happening.” The South Dakota Republican added that the votes simply aren’t there to execute the scheme the White House wants.
The president clearly does not accept this. Indeed, he hasn’t just lobbied senators directly on the subject, he’s also turned to his social media platform to publish a seemingly endless stream of missives devoted to his new favorite subject.
“TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!” he wrote as election results came in on Tuesday night. This followed another item just minutes earlier that used identical phrasing, which came on the heels of a different post that also pushed the line.
In all, Trump has published eight such demands over the last five days. “Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!” one of the messages read on Saturday. “BE TOUGH, BE SMART, AND WIN!!! This is much bigger than the Shutdown, this is the survival of our Country!”
As regular readers know, Trump pushed similar pleas during his first term, and GOP senators ignored him then as well. His influence in party politics is stronger now, but chances are that he will again fail to get his way.
What the president might not fully understand, however, is how counterproductive this lobbying campaign is. For one thing, the more he begs his own party’s senators to take the radical step they’re refusing to take, the weaker he appears. For another, the Republican Party’s message for weeks has been “The shutdown is the Democrats’ fault, and it’s up to them to end the standoff.” Trump is undermining that talking point with increasing frequency, effectively telling the public that there’s something GOP senators could do to resolve the shutdown on their own, if only they’d take his advice. If recent history is any guide, the president will continue to obsess over this, but he isn’t doing his party any favors.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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