Trump Urges Senate to Go Nuclear

Today is the 33rd of the federal government shutdown, caused by a failure of Congress to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to carry on funding the Leviathan.

On Halloween, returning from Florida, President Trump again urged Senate Republicans to “end the filibuster,” calling Democratic blocks a “ransom” for “illegal alien healthcare.” In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “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!” 

Vice President J.D. Vance echoed this after a Capitol GOP lunch, confirming that military pay continues despite shutdown. 

But SNAP benefits do not. And the failure of Obamacare looms.

Now, what Trump is advising, here, has been in the past called “the nuclear option,” defying Senate tradition by allowing a simple majority to rush through the CR to re-open the government despite Democratic demands that the party gets nearly everything it wants, all in this CR and not in separate bills. This includes re-upping Obama-era subsidies (tax credits) under the Affordable Care Act as well as re-legislating (as opposed to re-litigating) their defeat in the Big Beautiful Bill this summer, which did indeed cut some of their key projects overseas. 

If the Senate went “nuclear,” it wouldn’t be the first time. The 60-vote threshold has been established through repeated bipartisan understandings and incremental changes:

• In 1975, Democrats lowered the cloture threshold from 67 to 60 votes, a compromise to curb abuse while preserving minority rights.
• The Senate has already partially nixed the supermajority multiple times via majority vote, often in partisan fights:
  • 2013: Democrats eliminated it for most nominations (under Majority Leader Harry Reid) to confirm judges.
  • 2017: Republicans extended this to Supreme Court justices (under Mitch McConnell) for Trump’s picks like Neil Gorsuch.
  • 2025: Republicans themselves invoked it twice earlier this year for Trump cabinet confirmations and budget reconciliation tweaks.
  • These changes didn’t fully end the filibuster but carved out exceptions, demonstrating that it is indeed alterable by simple majority.

Trump’s advice would go further: a full elimination for legislation (beyond nominations), potentially via a Senate parliamentarian ruling or direct vote change. Critics like Sen. John Thune (R-SD) call it a “bulwark against bad things,” fearing Democrats could later ram through statehood for D.C./Puerto Rico or court-packing. Moderates like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) warn it would “inflict lasting harm” on the Senate’s deliberative role.

Note that this Sixty Percent requirement is a supermajority requirement, a republican tradition that alters the democratic element of our politics away from simple majoritarianism to a more reserved procedural practice. In effect, this means sometimes there will be stalemates, at least when the two contending parties each play the role of intransigent.

In other words, the game is Chicken!

Though some might notice a resemblance to MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction.

On Monday — Day 34 — the Senate reconvenes at 10 a.m. (ET), and could feature a 14th vote on H.R. 5371 (the CR), but Democrats signal continued blocks without ACA concessions, and without restoration of cuts made in July 2025 (OBBBA) and legal clarity that contingency funds can be used during a shutdown. 

If you are thinking that both of these could best be handled outside a stop-gap CR, you are probably right — and that is what most Senate Republicans are thinking — but Democrats are negotiating from a position of weakness. So they threaten to halt the whole process. It’s all they can do to grasp some victory from 2024’s electoral defeats.