- Trump urged Senate Republicans to use the "nuclear option" to eliminate the filibuster and pass funding on a party-line vote amid the shutdown.
- He framed it as payback for Democrats' past filibuster efforts, arguing GOP should seize power to end the shutdown immediately.
- GOP leaders remain divided — some back reforms or carve-outs, others warn nuking the filibuster risks long-term Senate chaos.
WASHINGTON — With the federal government shutdown stretching into its 30th day, President Donald Trump lit a fuse under Senate Republicans Thursday, urging them to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to obliterate the filibuster and ram through funding legislation on a party-line vote.
The dramatic call, posted on his Truth Social platform, comes amid mounting frustration over Democrats’ blockade of a stopgap spending bill, which they say doesn’t go far enough to protect expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
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Trump’s intervention marks a sharp escalation in a standoff that’s already furloughed thousands of federal workers, delayed veterans’ benefits, and threatened to yank food assistance from nearly 42 million Americans reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Republicans control the White House, a slim 53-47 edge in the Senate, and a 219-213 majority in the House — enough to govern, but not enough to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for most bills without Democratic buy-in.
In his signature all-caps style, Trump wrote: “It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!”
He framed the push as payback for Democrats’ own past flirtations with filibuster reform, adding, “Just a short while ago, the Democrats, while in power, fought for three years to do this, but were unable to pull it off because of Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
Never have the Democrats fought so hard to do something because they knew the tremendous strength that terminating the Filibuster would give them… Now I want to do it in order to take advantage of the Democrats.”
The Government Shutdown Has Added to the Chaos
The shutdown kicked off October 1, the first day of the 2026 fiscal year, after Congress failed to pass a funding measure.
Democrats have dug in, refusing to back a clean extension to November 21 unless Republicans agree to extend premium tax credits under the ACA, which help low- and middle-income families afford health insurance.
Without those credits, millions could face sticker-shock premiums or lose coverage altogether
Trump, fresh off a weeklong Asia trip, claimed foreign leaders bombarded him with questions about the impasse: “The one question that kept coming up, however, was how did the Democrats SHUT DOWN the United States of America, and why did the powerful Republicans allow them to do it?”
The filibuster, a Senate tradition dating back to the 19th century, lets the minority party grind debate to a halt unless 60 senators vote to advance a bill — a safeguard against hasty majoritarian rule, but also a recipe for gridlock.
Scrapping it via the nuclear option wouldn’t require a full rules overhaul; a simple majority could reinterpret Senate precedents to lower the bar to 51 votes. That’s exactly what happened in 2013, when Democrats under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid nuked the filibuster for most executive and judicial nominees to clear President Barack Obama’s picks.
Republicans fired back in 2017, extending it to Supreme Court justices to confirm Neil Gorsuch amid Democratic opposition.
A ‘Rare’ Bipartisan Push Takes Place
Trump’s not new to this rodeo. Back in 2018, during his first term’s shutdown drama, he tweeted that if the stalemate dragged on, “Republicans should consider the ‘nuclear option’ in the Senate.”
Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shot it down, arguing it would haunt the GOP when Democrats regained power.
McConnell, now a minority influencer after Republicans’ 2024 gains, has long championed the filibuster as a “bulwark against a lot of really bad things happening,” as he put it earlier this year.
No fresh comments from the Kentucky veteran surfaced Thursday, but his historical stance underscores the party’s internal fault lines.
Current Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has been equally steadfast. Just two weeks ago, he told reporters the White House hadn’t pressured him on filibuster tweaks, calling it a non-starter.
In a private GOP meeting this week, Vice President JD Vance even conceded Republicans likely lack the votes to pull it off.
Still, the shutdown’s pain is testing nerves. Earlier this month, as the clock ticked past three weeks, Senate Republicans started whispering about reforms — anything from “talking filibusters” that force opponents to hold the floor old-school style, to targeted carve-outs for spending bills.
“The longer this goes on and the more intransigent the Democrats are, I think they’re inviting a conversation about, ‘Are there steps we can take here?’” one unnamed GOP senator told The Hill, adding that public mood could sour hard after November 1.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., floated a “possibility” of carve-outs to preserve the broader 60-vote shield for legislation, while moderate Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’d eye any plan to reopen government, even if it bends rules — though she’s a filibuster fan.
Not everyone’s dragging their feet. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., jumped on Trump’s bandwagon immediately, posting on X: “Since Democrats REFUSE to fund the government, Senate Republicans need to use the nuclear option and override the filibuster!!”
And across the aisle, even Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., last week urged Republicans to ditch the filibuster to break the logjam — a rare bipartisan nudge amid the finger-pointing.
Trump doubled down in a follow-up post, blasting Democrats as “Crazed Lunatics that have lost all sense of WISDOM and REALITY” and warning they’d torch the filibuster themselves on “day one” if they reclaimed power — to push things like D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood.
“Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN,’” he wrote.
What Will Happen Next?
The irony isn’t lost on observers: During Joe Biden’s presidency, Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer clamored to gut the filibuster for voting rights and abortion protections, only to get stonewalled by Manchin and Sinema (now an independent).
Biden himself resisted, preaching bipartisanship. Now, with roles reversed, Trump’s flipping the script — and forcing his party to confront whether short-term shutdown relief is worth long-term Senate chaos.
As Capitol Hill buzzes, Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson — whom Trump praised as doing a “GREAT job” — face a ticking clock.
Trump tied their hands off the Dems’ “sick form of… Trump Derangement Syndrome,” but negotiations sputtered Thursday with no breakthrough.
Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, insist on ACA concessions; a GOP bill to extend SNAP funding passed the House but stalled in the Senate when Thune wouldn’t force a vote.
If Republicans blink and go nuclear, it could unlock Trump’s agenda — tax cuts, border security, energy deregulation — but at the cost of the filibuster’s bipartisan guardrails.
As one Hill veteran put it, “This isn’t just about funding; it’s about rewriting how Washington works.”
For now, the shutdown’s fallout grows: Furloughs mount, programs wobble, and Trump’s bombast echoes louder than ever.
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