Trump Urges Republicans to Utilize Nuclear Option Amid Government Shutdown
On Thursday, President Trump urged the Republican Party to revise Senate regulations to enable a simple majority for legislation, a move that would invoke the “nuclear option” and potentially resolve the ongoing 30-day government shutdown.
“It’s time for Republicans to play their trump card and move forward with the so-called nuclear option. Abolish the filibuster and abolish it now!” he stated in a detailed message shared on social media.
During his recent trip to Asia, Trump reflected on the question of how the Democrats managed to instigate the shutdown and why the Republicans did not counter it more effectively.
“In fact, on the way back to the plane, I thought a lot about that question: Why?” he noted in his statement.
“Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson are doing a great job, but the Democrats are crazed lunatics who have lost all wisdom and sense of reality,” he continued. “This is a pathological form of the now ‘legendary’ Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), which only occurs when you lose too much.”
Trump asserted that the Democrats’ demands to reopen the government would adversely affect American citizens, insisting that Republicans would not allow such harm.
Currently, GOP members are unable to advance a short-term resolution to fund the government at levels in place before the shutdown because it necessitates a 60-vote majority in the Senate.
Since the federal budget lapsed on October 1, only three Senate Democrats have supported Trump’s proposal, which has been rejected over a dozen times.
Republicans need an additional five votes to make any progress on the bill.
Recalling past attempts to dismantle the filibuster, Trump pointed out that Democrats battled for three years to achieve that goal while they were in power, but were stymied by Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. “Democrats have never fought so hard to get anything done because they knew they had a lot of power by ending the filibuster,” he commented.
The President warned that if Senate Democrats were allowed to move forward with legislation via a simple majority, they might attempt drastic changes, such as significantly expanding the Supreme Court and making Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico states, which would effectively add four Senate seats and bolster their majority in the House.
“We’re in power now, and if we do what we need to do, this ridiculous, country-destroying ‘shutdown’ will end in no time,” Trump declared. He emphasized the numerous benefits that could come with circumventing the filibuster, including the opportunity to appoint the best judges and U.S. attorneys.
He added, “It was an initiative hatched several years ago by then-President Barack Obama and former Majority Leader Harry Reid to take advantage of the Republican Party. Now I want to do it to take advantage of the Democratic Party…”
In another statement on social media, Trump remarked, “Given that the Democratic Party is at an extreme level of ‘insaneness’, the choice is clear – activate the ‘nuclear option’, eliminate the filibuster, and make America great again!”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had previously committed to preserving the filibuster when Republicans regained control of the Senate in January. Earlier this month, he dismissed the notion of employing the nuclear option to bring the shutdown to a close, indicating he hadn’t discussed that idea with the White House.
