Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has a plan to end the shutdown: Nuke the Senate filibuster and pass the funding bills with no Democratic votes. Unusual for Trump, the plan is entirely plausible and could be done easily and for free.
But Senate Republicans have no interest at all in doing so. After Trump made his pitch to kill the filibuster, the official spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said: "Leader Thune's position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged."
Nobody gave a reason for thwarting Trump, but it wasn't necessary. Everyone knows. Republicans are afraid of losing the House in 2026 and the Senate and White House in 2028 after 4 tumultuous years of Trump's reign of terror. They know that if they abolish the filibuster now, then by roughly March 1, 2029, the Democrats will have admitted D.C. and maybe Puerto Rico as states, passed the "John Lewis Voting Rights Act" and "For the People Act," overhauled the Supreme Court, made abortion legal nationwide, and implemented a long laundry list of other things Republicans hate. If the GOP keeps the filibuster now, if and when Democrats get control, the Republicans can say: "Look, when we had the trifecta, we didn't abolish it. In all fairness, you shouldn't now either." It might work.
Even folks over in the House are getting into the act. Mike Johnson admitted that it was none of his business since he is not a senator. Nevertheless, he said: "The filibuster has traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard. If the shoe was on the other foot, I don't think our team would like it." The first part of that is another falsehood. Traditionally, the filibuster was barely used. It's only been a "safeguard," if you accept that term, for about 30 years. Clearly, he's worried about 2028 as well. (V)