Trump urges Republicans to ditch filibuster rule in US Senate [View all]

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Source: The Guardian

Sat 27 Dec 2025 10.00 EST
Last modified on Sat 27 Dec 2025 10.01 EST


Donald Trump has floated the idea of ending the filibuster – a procedural technique in Congress that allows a minority of senators to block legislation from passing – which would make pushing through his political agenda in 2026 much easier.

In an interview with Politico, the president urged Republicans in the Senate to scrap the filibuster, saying it had become an obstacle to effective governing and removing it would prevent another government shutdown and pave the way for his party to push through its legislative priorities.

“The filibuster is hurting the Republican Party,” Trump told Politico. He called on Republican lawmakers to eliminate it “without question”. “If you get rid of the filibuster, you’re not going to have a shutdown,” Trump added. “You can do everything. You can do great health care if you get rid of the filibuster. We can do everything we want.”

Scraping the arcane-sounding legislative device is sometimes favored by the party with a majority in the Senate, but opposed by the other because it allows them to use their minority status to block legislation from passing. Senators typically back off from proposals to end it, because they don’t want to get steamrolled by a simple majority when the balance of power shifts again. Centrists in both parties typically oppose ending the filibuster as a way to defend against partisan political excesses.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/27/trump-republicans-filibuster-rule-senate