Trump Renews Call to End Filibuster as Shutdown Ties Record for Longest in History

The president said Republicans cannot advance their agenda with a 60-vote threshold in place, as the shutdown stretches into its 35th day.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Oct. 31, 2025. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

President Donald Trump reiterated his call to end the filibuster, saying it will be “impossible” for Republicans to move forward with the Senate rule in place. 

Trump made his comments in a Nov. 4 Truth Social post, in which he said he believes Democrats are “far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster.”

The president went on to say that Republicans will be unable to get “Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes.”

This statement comes on the day the government shutdown tied the longest shutdown in history, at 35 days. Currently, the filibuster has been invoked, which means the bill requires a 60-vote margin to pass, instead of a simple majority.

The filibuster rule is not a constitutional requirement, and can be changed by a majority vote of the Senate.

According to Trump, if nothing changes, Democrats will stop a plethora of legislation from passing, and blame Republicans, and the midterm elections in 2026 will be “rightfully brutal.” 

“If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History. We will have FAIR, FREE, and SAFE Elections, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everybody, Strong Borders, Major Tax and Energy Cuts, and will secure our Second Amendment, which the Democrats will also terminate, IMMEDIATELY.”

Trump also said that if the filibuster is kept in place, Democrats will fare better in the next election, giving them the ability to change the composition of the Supreme Court and possibly add four more Democratic senators, from the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

This would be possible if the Democrats, upon achieving a Senate majority, overturned the filibuster rule themselves, which would allow them to pass such legislation by a simple majority vote. 

“Remember, Republicans, they are going to end the Filibuster as soon as they get the chance We know this because they already tried, and the only two people who didn’t go along are now out of office,“ the president wrote. ”TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER NOW, END THE RIDICULOUS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN, MOST IMPORTANTLY, PASS EVERY WONDERFUL REPUBLICAN POLICY THAT WE HAVE DREAMT OF, FOR YEARS, BUT NEVER GOTTEN. WE WILL BE THE PARTY THAT CANNOT BE BEATEN.” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) disagreed with the president, offering support for the Senate filibuster, while saying at a Nov. 3 press conference that it was a “Senate matter” and that his “opinion is irrelevant.”

However, Johnson also said that he was concerned that Democrats could remove the filibuster to make passing their agenda easier. 

“I obviously shared my thoughts with the president on that,” the Speaker said. “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.”

The leader of the lower house of Congress touched on some of the same concerns voiced by Trump, saying he believes that Democrats would increase the number of Senators and Supreme Court justices, and make other major changes, should the “impediment” of the filibuster be removed. 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who sits on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, told reporters on Nov. 4 he is open to ending the filibuster.

Some other lawmakers, including Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), declined to offer an opinion.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.