President Donald Trump expressed disappointment in some Republican lawmakers over their hesitance to change or even eliminate the filibuster rule in the Senate, noting there are some in his own party he “can’t stand.”
Trump admitted to some disappointment toward Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., because of the lack of a vote to change Senate rules surrounding the filibuster. The top Senate Republican has repeatedly declined to do so, citing a lack of support among his own party.
“I’m disappointed,” Trump said on Tuesday. “I like John a lot, but he has a couple of Republicans who are foolish people. A couple of them I like, a couple of them I can’t stand.”
Trump has called for months to terminate the filibuster, telling Republicans it’s the only way to pass the party’s agenda items without Democratic interference.
Under current rules, senators can take a procedural vote known as “invoking cloture,” which immediately concludes debate so long as 60 senators vote in favor. If that vote fails, the piece of legislation is stuck in a state of limbo until that support materializes.
With their slim majority in the Senate, Republicans have struggled to get some of their wish-list items through Congress because of that 60-vote threshold. One of those is the SAVE America Act, Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s proof-of-citizenship and voter ID bill.
Lee, despite defending the filibuster in the past, has grown supportive of eliminating the 60-vote hurdle.
Earlier this year, Lee pushed for the Senate to revive what is known as the talking filibuster, the original procedure that requires senators to be present on the floor and actively talking in order to stall a vote. While that resulted in a brief floor takeover earlier this year that reserved all debate time for the SAVE America Act, that later stalled out due to other pressing deadlines.
Now, Lee is offering this ultimatum: enforce the talking filibuster or get rid of it altogether.
“That’s how the filibuster is supposed to work — protecting robust debate in the Senate. It no longer does that; it now forestalls debate,” Lee said in a social media post. “Enforce the filibuster. Or nuke it. The status quo empowers Democrats.”
Still, it’s not clear how much support there is among Republicans to terminate the filibuster. Many have argued, including Utah’s junior Sen. John Curtis, that the procedural hurdle is crucial to maintaining checks and balances — regardless of which party is in control.
Democrats have previously floated getting rid of the filibuster in recent years when they held the Senate majority. However, both parties have so far refrained from doing so out of concerns the opposing party would later take advantage of it.