President Trump has shown his support for a controversial option that could help Republicans end the ongoing federal government shutdown, which is now in its first month.
During a Sunday interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, the president said he would support a “nuclear option” to end the government shutdown— “ending the filibuster.”
“I’m not going to do it by extortion. I’m not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way. There’s something wrong with these people,” the president said about ending the shutdown and bowing down to Democrats’ demands.
“If they don’t vote, that’s their problem. Now I happen to agree to something else. I think we should do the nuclear option. This is a totally different nuclear by the way. It’s called ending the filibuster. But to do that, he’d need Senate Majority Leader John Thune to change Senate rules,” the president added.
The federal government shutdown began on October 1, when disagreements over healthcare subsidies prevented the Senate from passing a funding bill. So far, there is no end in sight as Democrats have held firm in their demands to extend critical health insurance subsidies and to end Trump’s attempts to cancel congressionally approved spending before they approve a budget.
The filibuster is a parliamentary rule that requires 60 votes to approve a piece of legislation in the Senate, which has 100 seats. By abolishing this practice, Republicans—who have 53 seats in the chamber compared to Democrats’ 47—would, in theory, be able to reopen the government by a simple majority vote, meaning they would not need the votes of Democrats on the healthcare subsidies.
However, most Republicans have not advocated for an end to the practice, arguing not only that it could give them less power when they are eventually back in the minority, but also that it discourages compromise. Among the leading voices against ending the rule is Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has said his position remains “unchanged” even after the president has called for it.
It remains unclear exactly how many Republicans support changing the rule. However, to eliminate it, Senators would need to change the chamber’s Rule 22 with a two-thirds majority vote, which is unlikely. Another approach would be to introduce a new interpretation of Senate rules without actually amending the existing directive.
Without the “nuclear option,” there is still no end in sight for the controversial shutdown. So far, the Senate has voted more than a dozen times to reopen the government, all of which have failed, as Democrats hold out for votes to secure healthcare subsidies.
Republicans have tried to frame the shutdown as the Democrats’ fault. But interestingly, a majority of Americans are blaming the GOP for the funding stalemate. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week, 45% of Americans mainly blamed Trump and the GOP for the shutdown, compared to 33% who thought Democrats were responsible.