President Donald Trump called for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster on Friday, sharing an op-ed from his Treasury Secretary making the case.
“It’s time to end the filibuster,” Trump posted to his Truth Social account while sharing screenshots from Scott Bessent’s op-ed with the same title.
Bessent wrote in the Washington Post, “The American people are just now emerging from the longest and most devastating government shutdown in U.S. history. And while the blame lies squarely with Senate Democrats, we cannot ignore the weapon they used to hold the country hostage: the legislative filibuster.”
Bessent went on to argue that Senate Republicans should end the filibuster in order to avoid another government shutdown in January, when Congress is set to battle yet again over keeping the government funded.
“By wielding the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote Senate supermajority to pass legislation, Democrats inflicted tremendous harm on the nation, including: $11 billion in permanent economic damage; an estimated 1.5 percentage points in lost GDP growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025; 9,500 canceled flights; and the paychecks of 1.4 million federal workers held for ransom by the left’s demands,” argued Bessent.
The Treasury Secretary went on to detail some of the history behind the filibuster, which he claimed “is a historical accident that has evolved into a standing veto for the minority and a license for paralysis.” Bessent went on to note “the filibuster is not in the Constitution” and reminded his readers that both parties have done away with it in the past. He wrote:
Democrats themselves have recognized this phenomenon. That’s why, in 2013, Majority Leader Harry Reid eliminated the filibuster for presidential nominations other than Supreme Court justices. In 2017, Republicans followed suit for Supreme Court nominations. Each side justified its move as a response to unprecedented obstruction by the other. And each time, the Senate survived. The Republic did not fall.
Trump’s calls to eliminate the filibuster and also to do away with blue slips, which allow Senators to hold judicial appointments in their own states, have so far not found widespread support in the Senate.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told CNN’s Manu Raju in November that he told Trump directly in a phone call that the filibuster isn’t going anywhere. Kennedy said he told Trump his job is to “kill bad ideas,” including eliminating the filibuster.
Raju asked how Trump reacted, and Kennedy replied, “Well, he wasn’t unhappy. I mean, the president didn’t yell or anything. Of course, he’s never yelled at me. There’s always a first time, you know, but he doesn’t agree with me, and sometimes reasonable people disagree, but my personal opinion, I could be wrong, but I doubt we’re going to change the filibuster or the blue slip while we’re in charge during your or my natural lifetime.”
