President Trump’s Answer to GOP Election Losses: End the Filibuster

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WASHINGTON—President Trump urged Republican senators to jettison the filibuster to pass GOP-backed legislation and preserve power in Congress after his party suffered losses in key races during Tuesday’s elections.

At a breakfast with GOP senators at the White House, the president argued that lowering the 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation in the chamber would allow the GOP to rack up policy victories that would boost its political prospects heading into next year’s midterm elections. The president also said that terminating the filibuster is the only way to end the government shutdown that has stretched on for 36 days and is now the longest in history.

“We have to get the country open,” Trump said, adding that failing to end it would be a “tragic mistake.” With the filibuster eliminated, the GOP could “pass legislation at levels you’ve never seen before and it will be impossible to beat us,” ticking off proposals to restrict mail-in voting and mandate that voters be required to present identification before casting ballots.

Trump is facing resistance to eliminating the filibuster from prominent Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), who have defended the rule, saying it will rein in Democratic excesses when control of the Senate changes hands. Adjusting the filibuster rule would require a simple majority in the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 margin.

Trump argued that Democrats plan to eliminate the filibuster anyway—so Republicans should do it first. In his remarks, he predicted that if Democrats take control of Congress they will move to make Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico into states—likely adding four Democratic senators and more blue Electoral College votes—and attempt to add more liberal justices to the Supreme Court, steps some progressives have urged. He said that ending the filibuster now could keep Republicans in power indefinitely.

“It’s going to be a very, very bad situation, and it’s done. It’s done as soon as they attain power,” Trump said. But, he said, “If we do what I’m saying…they’ll most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine.”

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Republicans mostly greeted Trump’s remarks on the filibuster with awkward silence, as television cameras panned to show a blank-faced Thune and unsmiling Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine).

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Vice President JD Vance offered his own autopsy report of the election results, posting on social media that Republicans will need to work on turning out their base and “focus on the home front,” including voter concerns about the economy.

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