Despite President Trump’s urging for Republican leaders to consider the “nuclear option” to dismiss the filibuster, Senate Minority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) remains firm in his stance on keeping the 60-vote requirement for passing legislation. A spokesperson made it clear that Thune’s views on the filibuster haven’t changed.
Thune labeled the idea of invoking the filibuster a “bad idea” last week, and some within his leadership suggested it wouldn’t be a viable strategy to bypass Democratic resistance to a clean continuing resolution that the House approved to reopen the government.
As Thune prepares to compete against Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) for the position of Senate Republican leader following the retirement of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), he has repeatedly advocated for maintaining the filibuster, even with Democrats using it to hinder President Trump’s initiatives.
Senate Republicans could technically overturn the long-standing procedure with a simple majority, insisting that the filibuster does not apply to government funding bills, like the continuing resolution aimed at funding the government until November 21, which has been blocked by Senate Democrats 13 times.
Republicans have claimed since the government shutdown began on October 1 that they lack the votes necessary to eliminate the filibuster, which would allow government funding measures to pass with just a simple majority.
Key members of Thune’s leadership team, including Senate Republican Policy Caucus Vice Chairman James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Cornyn, also expressed opposition to lifting the filibuster to reopen the government.
Moderate Republicans such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have shared strong support for retaining the 60-vote threshold for most Senate legislation.
Recently, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) voiced strong resistance against the notion of eliminating the filibuster. He emphasized that the filibuster encourages bipartisanship in the Senate, stating, “Powers change, but principles should not. I am adamantly opposed to abolishing the filibuster,” in a social media post.
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who aligns with President Trump’s views, defended the necessity of the 60-vote threshold, calling it an “important safeguard” against liberal policies and a means to curtail government expansion.
Johnson warned that ignoring filibuster limitations could result in measures like granting statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, imposing firearm bans, and enacting other damaging policies for the country.
