Trump urges Republicans to ditch filibuster rule in US Senate | Donald Trump

Donald Trump has floated the idea of ​​ending the filibuster – a procedural technique in Congress that allows a minority of senators to prevent the passage of legislation – which would make it much easier to implement his political agenda in 2026.

In an interview with Politico, the president urged Senate Republicans to abandon the filibuster, saying it had become an obstacle to effective governance and that removing it would prevent another government shutdown and clear the way for his party to advance its legislative priorities.

“The filibuster hurts the Republican Party,” Trump told Politico. He called on Republican lawmakers to eliminate it “without question.”

If Congress were to get rid of the filibuster, Trump added, “you can do anything. You can achieve great health care if you get rid of the filibuster. We can do anything we want.”

The abandonment of this obscure-sounding legislative mechanism is sometimes favored by the majority party in the Senate, but opposed by the other because it allows them to use their minority status to prevent the adoption of legislation.

Senators generally shy away from proposals to end it because they don’t want to be overwhelmed by a simple majority when the balance of power shifts again. Centrists in both parties generally oppose ending the filibuster as a way to defend against partisan political excesses.

For Trump, who has 10 months before the midterm elections to advance the Republican agenda, including requiring voters to show ID, raising the issue has a more immediate goal: preventing another government shutdown.

“If you get rid of the filibuster, you won’t have closure,” he told the outlet.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate to Democrats’ 47, leaving them little room to lose members and pass bills with a simple majority. Trump previously called on his party in the Senate to end the filibuster in October so Republicans could reopen the government without Democratic support.

Republicans failed to take up the challenge, leading to a lengthy standoff with Democrats over health care costs and paralyzing the government with a 43-day shutdown. But increasing time constraints on the sitting president to advance his legislative agenda could change the calculations.

Elsewhere in Trump’s remarks to Politico, he said he believed the midterm elections would focus on “pricing,” an alternative to the term “affordable” used by Democrats, which he considers a “hoax.” Both terms mean the same thing.

He said he was convinced that Americans will be receptive to his message: he is restoring order to an economic mess inherited from Joe Biden.

“I think it’s going to be about the success of our country. It’s going to be about price,” Trump told Politico. “Because, you know, they gave us high prices, and we’re undercutting them.”

The comments follow two positive economic reports showing that inflation is slowing and the economy is growing faster than economists expected. But polls also show that American consumers are feeling economically uncertain and pessimistic.