During the recently-concluded 43-day government shutdown, several Republican lawmakers began calling for the repeal of the filibuster—the longstanding Senate rule requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation. The calls came under pressure from President Trump, who demanded his party override the Democrats’ blockade to restore funding to the federal government.
Among the most vocal proponents for doing away with the filibuster at that time was U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, who sharply reversed on his previous support for the measure. Now, several weeks after eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus caved and voted to reopen the government, Tuberville is renewing his call for the filibuster’s elimination.
In an op-ed recently published by far-right news outlet Breitbart, Tuberville made his case for ending the filibuster and asked his Republican colleagues to join him in abolishing the measure. In Tuberville’s view, nuking the filibuster would both aid Republicans in pushing through Trump’s “America First” agenda and preempt Democrats from doing away with the measure themselves the next time they assume control of the Senate.
“President Trump has his work cut out for him as he tries to dig America out of the deep hole the Biden administration got us into over the past four years,” Tuberville wrote. “Congressional Republicans must deliver on the ‘America First’ agenda that 77 million Americans voted for in November 2024. But to do that, Republicans need to get organized. We’ve been too hesitant, too worried about offending someone, and too content to keep calling conservative plays while Democrats don’t play by the rules and are willing to do whatever it takes to shove their woke agenda down our throats.
“If Republicans want to put real wins on the board for the American people, it starts with ending the Senate filibuster. I know this is controversial. But the truth is, if it weren’t for two former Democrat Senators, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, Democrats would have already blown it up last time they were in power,” the senator continued.
Tuberville went on to argue that Democrats would “cement their woke agenda into law” if given the opportunity to nuke the filibuster themselves, allowing them to pursue policies including “packing the Supreme Court, destroying our borders, mandating electric vehicles, and allowing abortion up until the day of birth.”
According to Tuberville, the filibuster has lost its original purpose of facilitating “meaningful debate” and has since become “a tool that greatly expands the power of a single Senator.”
“So, it’s not really surprising that some of my colleagues are determined to keep it—it’s all about power,” the senator stated.
Tuberville went on to highlight the legislative priorities which Republicans could more easily pursue if the filibuster is eliminated. Chief among those priorities, in the senator’s view, would be “restoring election integrity”—with Tuberville once again feeding into the long-debunked conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump.
“Once [the filibuster is] gone, our top priority must be restoring election integrity,” Tuberville wrote. “That means requiring American citizens to show identification before casting a ballot and abolishing universal mail-in ballots.
“Millions of Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump,” he continued. “Massive fraud occurred, and we cannot allow it to happen again. Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House. We should be working around the clock to shore up our elections ahead of the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential elections.”
Tuberville also took the opportunity to call for the hamstringing of the federal court system, arguing that eliminating the filibuster would allow Republicans to bypass “Democrat activists judges” who make rulings against the Trump administration’s interests.
“Another major obstacle to the ‘America First’ agenda is the wave of activist judges weaponizing lawfare against the Trump administration,” the senator stated. “Unelected judges should not have the power to override the will of 77 million Americans who sent Trump back to the White House. Time and again, when President Trump tries to deliver on a promise, Democrat activist judges swoop in to block it.”
“Republicans must end the filibuster if we have any hope of keeping a Supreme Court that respects the Constitution,” Tuberville added. “If we fail, Democrats have already said what they will do when they regain power: pack the courts with radicals who will disregard the Constitution altogether.”
Additionally, Tuberville called for the banning of “all immigration from the Middle East and North Africa,” making the unfounded claim that “entire neighborhoods” in Europe are now “ruled by Sharia law” due to increased migration from majority-Muslim countries. The comments mark yet another entry in a recent string of Islamophobic statements and legislative actions taken by the senator, with Tuberville also appearing to argue that all Muslim immigrants should be deported from the country.
“We need to deport every Islamist who was allowed to come here under the Biden administration,” Tuberville stated. “If we don’t act now, the United States will end up the ‘United Caliphate of America.'”
Tuberville concluded his op-ed by expressing his support for the “Project 2025” agenda and again urging his colleagues to join him in repealing the filibuster.
“Democrats widely mocked Project 2025 during the last election—but I think the conservatives who put that together were on to something,” Tuberville wrote. “President Trump made very clear promises on the campaign trail and the American people overwhelmingly voted him into office. Not only that, but the American people entrusted Republicans with control of the House and Senate to help implement the President’s agenda. There is no reason why we should not be delivering on the President’s promises instead of letting Democrats obstruct at every turn.
“This is fourth-and-goal with the clock running out. Republicans can either run the ball up the middle and fight for the win or kneel and hand the country over to radical Democrats. It’s time to run the winning play, and that play starts with ending the filibuster.”
