Trump urges Senate Republicans to scrap filibuster to end shutdown
Republicans have strongly opposed ending the filibuster despite President Trump’s calls to do so to end the government shutdown.
- U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson now supports eliminating the Senate filibuster, a reversal of his previous position.
- Johnson’s change of heart follows a call from former President Donald Trump to end the filibuster to pass a spending bill.
- In 2022, Johnson had described the idea of eliminating the filibuster as a “naked power grab” by Democrats.
MADISON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has changed his views on eliminating a tactic known as the filibuster that senators deploy to delay votes on bills, reversing his stance from three years ago when he called the idea a “power grab.”
Johnson’s reversal came just after President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Republicans who control the U.S. Senate to end the filibuster as a way to end the government shutdown by allowing Republicans to hold a vote on a new spending bill without needing 60 votes.
Democrats have so far opposed the spending deal because it does not include an extension of Obamacare subsidies, resulting in an impasse that has triggered the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Trump made his case to end the filibuster just hours after Democrats swept elections in Virginia, New Jersey, California and in more obscure statewide races in Georgia — victories that signal a backlash to Trump’s policies. The president said the shutdown played a “big role” in the election outcomes.
“I’ll help him sell it,” Johnson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, in response to Trump’s idea.
“Most Republicans realize that the minute Democrats control the Senate, they’ll nuke the filibuster. So why be shmucks and let them do it first?” Johnson said.
In a post later on X, Johnson said, “We KNOW Democrats will nuke the filibuster as soon as they’re able to solidify their grip on power. We should act first in order to pass laws that benefit the AMERICAN people.”
In 2022, Johnson called the idea of eliminating the filibuster rule a “naked power grab.”
“… why do Democrats now want to destroy the filibuster? It’s not about preserving voting rights, those rights are well established and protected. It’s because they want absolute power in the face of bad poll numbers and their own tax-and-spend policies,” Johnson said in January 2022 when Democrats proposed the idea.
“It is up to the Senate to vote to protect our institutions and the voice of every American. Tonight I voted to prevent a naked power grab by Democrats and maintain the tradition of the Senate that promotes comity and bipartisan action.”
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who has voted more than a dozen times against taking up the GOP spending bill during the shutdown, also supports ending the filibuster rule.
Even with Trump’s call, and Johnson’s support, it’s unclear whether Senate Republicans could gather enough votes to change the rule. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday the votes aren’t there.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
