President Donald Trump has iterated his call for Republican Senators to eliminate the filibuster to end the government shutdown and pass their desired policies into law.
Trump posted on Truth Social that 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!)” He added “because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes.”
“FOR THREE YEARS, NOTHING WILL BE PASSED, AND REPUBLICANS WILL BE BLAMED. Elections, including the Midterms, will be rightfully brutal. If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History.”
Donald Trump
Ending the Senate filibuster would mean bills could move through the Senate with a simple majority. However, Republican Senators, including Leader John Thune, have signaled they are not willing to do it, fearful of what could happen when they are not in power.
Trump predicted that Democrats “are going to end the Filibuster as soon as they get the chance,” warning that they would take steps to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices if they returned to power.
He noted two critical Senators who opposed such a move in the past – Kristen Sinema and Joe Manchin, who caucused with Democrats – are no longer in the Senate.
“TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER NOW, END THE RIDICULOUS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN, MOST IMPORTANTLY, PASS EVERY WONDERFUL REPUBLICAN POLICY THAT WE HAVE DREAMT OF, FOR YEARS, BUT NEVER GOTTEN. WE WILL BE THE PARTY THAT CANNOT BE BEATEN – THE SMART PARTY!!!”
Donald Trump
Government Shutdown Reaches 35th Day, Ties Record For Longest
Trump’s Truth Social post came as the impasse in Congress reaches its 35th day, tying the record for the longest in history.
Already on day 35 of the shutdown, food banks nationwide are swamped with new families, furloughed workers are applying for unemployment benefits and air traffic is snarling across the country.
With Congress now tied for its longest-ever shutdown, a small group of lawmakers in Washington are furiously trying to end the standoff as soon as this week.
Those members insist there’s real momentum this time. Yet the potential off-ramp does not appear to deliver Democrats any real win on their biggest demand of the shutdown, which is, health care.
According to sources familiar with the high-stakes negotiations, talks over reopening the government are focused on putting together a funding package and giving Democrats a stand-alone vote to extend expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The deal would also include a pathway to move ahead with three bills to fund major agencies of the federal government through next September.
Senator Susan Collins, the Senate’s top GOP spending leader, has been involved in a flurry of conversations in recent days to end the impasse by funding both parties’ priorities in bipartisan year-long funding bills.
“I do believe that we are finally making progress. It’s too soon to declare that this nightmare of a shutdown is over, but I’m very cautiously hopeful that it will be resolved by the end of this week.”
Susan Collins
Nonetheless, there’s still a long way to go. Party leaders are still not talking. The Senate is about to fail its 14th vote on the GOP’s stopgap plan to reopen the government and neither side expects tangible progress today which has key races from New Jersey to California.
