With the ongoing government shutdown now the longest in American history, President Trump is upping the pressure on Senate Republicans to find a way to fund the government—namely by doing away with the filibuster, the longstanding Senate rule that requires 60 votes to pass most legislation.
At a recent breakfast with Senate Republicans, the president called on GOP lawmakers to nuke the filibuster, effectively lowering the vote threshold for legislation to a simple majority of 51 votes. The move would allow Senate Republicans—who currently hold a 53-47 majority—to break the shutdown and pass a government funding bill without making concessions to Democrats.
Several GOP Senators, including current Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, have balked at the idea of terminating the filibuster, noting that the rule also allows Republicans to retain power during periods when Democrats control the Senate.
However, others have heeded Trump’s demands and are now echoing his calls to end the filibuster and reopen the government. Among them is U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama.
“If we need to bust it, let’s bust it,” Tuberville said following Wednesday’s breakfast with Trump. “Let’s knock it down to 51 and let the Senate know that the power needs to go to the president and let him get something done. If we don’t, we’re going to lose our country. It’s over.”
The senator later tweeted: “Americans don’t care about Senate rules. They care about RESULTS. Our troops, law enforcement, and air traffic controllers should not be held HOSTAGE by woke Democrats. BLOW UP THE FILIBUSTER.”
The comments represent a marked reversal for Tuberville, who previously voiced his support for the filibuster in 2022 when Senate Republicans were in the minority.
“The filibuster protects the minority party’s voice in the Senate, and forces both parties to work together on meaningful legislation. It encourages compromise. It discourages radicalism,” Tuberville wrote on what was then Twitter, now X.
Tuberville was also a vocal proponent of the filibuster during last year’s 2024 Senate Republican leadership election, when he made clear that he would only support a leader who vowed to preserve the procedural rule.
“No. No. No. We need to keep the filibuster,” Tuberville told NBC News in November of 2024.
But Tuberville isn’t the only one changing his tune on the filibuster in accordance with Trump’s demands.
Jim Banks, a first-term Republican senator from Indiana, also said he supports terminating the filibuster after meeting with Trump.
“I do agree with him. I understand why he’s frustrated. The government shutdown is the Democrats’ fault; it’s unacceptable,” Banks said recently. “We have a short period, window of time, to do the things that we promised our voters that we would do. The filibuster is standing in the way of balanced budgets and cutting spending, on top of other things like passing vote ID laws.”
Republican Senators Roger Marshall of Kansas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and John Cornyn of Texas have also indicated that they would be open to nuking the filibuster to end the shutdown. Even so, Thune has maintained that there are not enough votes within the Republican caucus to carry out the so-called “nuclear option.”
In addition to Thune, Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and James Lankford of Oklahoma have made it clear that they are fundamentally opposed to eliminating the filibuster.
Without support from at least 51 Senate Republicans, the nuclear option cannot go into effect, requiring near-unanimity within the 53-member caucus to override the filibuster. While Trump may not have the votes at the moment, it is possible that more senators will fall in line with the president’s position if the shutdown continues to drag without the Democrats showing any signs of caving.
