As Republicans and Democrats vie for dominance over the federal government shutdown, President Donald Trump has set his sights on a new goal that could break the impasse: eliminating the Senate filibuster.
In two Truth Social posts, President Trump implored senators to end the chamber’s longstanding practice of requiring 60 votes to advance a bill to final consideration. The 60-vote threshold means Republicans cannot simply rely on their own senators to pass legislation to fund the government. It would also need to secure support from at least seven Democrats, given the 53-47 partisan split in Congress.
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Democrats do not support legislation that would continue federal funding during the government shutdown, which is now in its second month. Democrats are using the filibuster requirement to force Republicans to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
On November 2nd, President Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Stop the filibuster, not just on government shutdowns, but on everything else.” He said Democrats “will end the filibuster as soon as they have the opportunity. Even if we do that, they won’t have a chance.”
In Congressional parlance, the process of using a simple majority vote to eliminate the filibuster is called the “nuclear option.”
Stephen Smith, a political scientist at Arizona State University, said the president could make a difference if he went ahead with a “nuclear attack” on the filibuster. Smith said President Woodrow Wilson supported the first of several filibuster avoidance measures enacted in 1917.
Trump won support from Republicans in Congress on most issues during his second term, but Senate Republicans disagree with his desire to end the filibuster.
South Dakota Majority Leader John Thune, the top Republican in the Senate, reiterated his opposition to abolishing the filibuster. He is joined in opposition by several Republicans, including Sens. John Curtis of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate. Powers may change, but principles should not. I am adamantly opposed to eliminating it. https://t.co/b4YZKeauw3
— Sen. John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) October 31, 2025
If these Republicans firmly oppose abolishing the filibuster, President Trump will not have enough votes to end the practice.
“We don’t seem to be as close to ‘nuking’ the Congressional filibuster as we have been in recent decades,” Smith said.
What is a filibuster and how does it work?
The filibuster was not created by any specific law and is not provided for in the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution delegates the creation of internal rules to the Senate itself, and for much of its history, senators were able to block action with the filibuster.
It took until 1917 when the Senate voted to create a process known as cloture. This process allows a two-thirds majority of senators present and voting to break the filibuster and move on to other business. Then, in 1975, the Senate voted to reduce the supermajority to three-fifths of all senators, establishing the current level of 60 senators.
The 60-vote threshold is a major hurdle in the House of Representatives, where it is rare for one party to hold so many seats, especially in a time of increasing polarization between the two parties.
How could senators introduce a nuclear option?
The nuclear option’s structure is complex even by Congressional operational standards, requiring a series of carefully planned steps. The point is that the majority party will move to change the supermajority rule through a series of votes that require only a simple majority.
The nuclear option does not have to eliminate the filibuster completely. It may be used to exclude it only for specific purposes. This is a tactic both sides have used for the past dozen years.
In 2013, Democrats introduced a nuclear option to approve most executive and judicial nominees after the Republican minority in Congress refused to approve many of President Barack Obama’s appointees.
But that effort resulted in Supreme Court nominees meeting the 60-vote threshold. This restriction was repealed by Republicans in 2017.
Currently, all appointments are handled by a simple majority, and normal legislative business continues to depend on a 60-vote difference.
Does the filibuster have staying power?
The scope of the filibuster could be further narrowed by eliminating it for spending bills that are at issue in shutdown fights, without eliminating all legislative practice. Some Democratic lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to end the filibuster on voting-related bills during President Joe Biden’s term, which would have favored Democratic-backed election bills.
One argument against ending the filibuster is that today’s political majority could become tomorrow’s political minority.
Historically, Republicans have valued the filibuster more highly than Democrats. Because the filibuster makes it difficult to create new federal programs, a common goal of Democrats.
There is another reason for Democrats to maintain supermajority rule. Each state is allocated two Senate seats, regardless of population. Currently, Democrats are at a long-term disadvantage in the Senate because most states tend to vote the same for president and the Senate, and there are definitely more states that are definitely Republican than Democratic. As a result, Democratic senators will want continued access to the filibuster.
Another argument against abolishing the filibuster is that it gives a single senator more power in the chamber. Many senators will not be willing to give up much of their personal influence by ending the filibuster, even if it is in their party’s interest.
