Thune Says Republicans ‘Not Even Close’ to Ending Filibuster After Trump’s Suggestion

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday that Senate Republicans don’t have the votes to end the upper chamber’s filibuster rule after President Donald Trump called for the procedure’s termination amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, Thune was asked about Trump’s calls to end the filibuster, which would remove a 60-vote hurdle to pass any measure, in order to end the shutdown and pass measures to advance his administration’s policies.

“The practical reality of it is … that there just aren’t the votes in the Senate, and for that matter, not even close,” Thune said.

The leader told the outlet that Senate Republicans are concerned that ending the filibuster would open the door for Democrats to pass measures, including adding more justices to the Supreme Court in a process known as “packing the court,” federalizing elections, and certain pro-abortion measures.

Trump, however, previously countered such arguments by saying that he believes Democrats would likely terminate the filibuster regardless of what happens during the shutdown as soon as they gain the upper hand in the Senate.

Since the shutdown was initiated on Oct. 1, the Senate has voted and failed multiple times to pass a stopgap measure to reopen the government. Democrats have maintained that they want health care provisions added to a stopgap measure, while Republicans say that negotiations on health care should only come after the government reopens.

“I think that’s what the president’s reacting to … these people aren’t going to do anything that I want to do, even if it’s in their best interest, because of their blind hatred for him and his administration,” Thune told the Daily Caller, referring to Trump’s call to end the filibuster.

In previous congressional sessions, former Democratic senators, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, stated that they would not vote to end the filibuster, although neither is currently in office. Democrats who held a small majority at the time had sought to remove the procedural hurdle to pass voting-related legislation in 2022, only to be rebuffed by their own members.

Thune told the Daily Caller that while Manchin and Sinema were public about their opposition to ending the filibuster, at least eight other Democratic senators told him they were opposed to it, too, but were fearful of the Democratic Party’s voter base.

“They didn’t want to be the ones that took the spear as long as they [Manchin and Sinema] were willing to take it,” he told the Daily Caller.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has said that he would support Republican efforts to end the filibuster to reopen the government.

“It might be a noble pursuit to extend those tax credits. But it’s the wrong tactic by keeping our government shut down like this,” Fetterman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the Capitol last month, referring to health care subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year that Democrats want to see included in the stopgap measure.

As for Trump, the president wrote earlier this week in a post on Truth Social that the GOP will likely lose the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election if the filibuster remains. That post came after Democrats won in several races on Tuesday evening, including the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.

“The Democrats are far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!), because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done,” he wrote.

Then, he further warned, no bills will be passed in favor of his administration, and that Republicans will be blamed. Trump has suggested that a number of his priorities, including election reforms, more tax breaks, and more immigration policies, could be passed without the filibuster.