Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) doubled down on his help for the Senate filibuster, at the same time as President Trump has pushed the higher chamber to make use of the so-called nuclear choice to forgo it and reopen the federal government with a easy majority vote.
At a press convention Monday, Johnson stated he spoke to Trump “multiple times” over the weekend, including, “and of course, the filibuster came up.”
“I understand desperate times call for desperate measures. I also understand that traditionally, we’ve seen that as an important safeguard,” Johnson instructed reporters, referring to the filibuster, which successfully requires 60 votes within the 100-seat chamber to go most laws.
If Senate management determined to make use of the “nuclear option” to carveout an exception to the filibuster, the higher chamber would solely want 50 votes to go the GOP proposal to reopen the federal government.
Johnson made clear that “this is a Senate matter” and that his “opinion is irrelevant.” However he expressed concern that Democrats, sooner or later, might “nuke” the filibuster to make it simpler to go elements of their agenda.
“I obviously shared my thoughts with the president on that,” the Speaker stated. “As much as I have wanted to blow up the filibuster sometimes, as a House member, when we were not getting what we wanted done in our agenda, I hear my Senate Republican colleagues — some of the most conservative people in Congress — who say it’s an important safeguard. It prevents us, it holds us back from the Democrats’ worst impulses.”
“I mean, there’s a lot of abuses that could come and so that’s the caveat. That’s what they’re working through,” Johnson added.
Trump on Thursday urged Republicans to forgo the filibuster to reopen the federal government, which has been partially shut down because the starting of October.
“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” Trump posted on Reality Social.
Senate GOP leaders have dominated out a possible change to the filibuster to reopen the federal government. Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) instructed reporters final month that eliminating the filibuster with a view to reopen authorities could be a “bad idea.”
Johnson stated that primarily based on his conversations with the president, it’s clear to him that Trump is “very passionate” about bypassing the filibuster.
“I speak frankly and honestly with the president, and he’s very passionate about this. We’re all very passionate. I think what you see in this debate we’re having on our own side is a reflection of the anger that we feel, the real desperation that we feel, because we want the government to be reopened,” he stated.
“We want to serve the American people as best we can,” he continued. “And any hindrance to that is something that everybody’s looking at very carefully. Again, not a House issue, it’s a Senate issue, and we’ll see how that’s resolved.”
