Senate Leader’s Stance On Filibuster Remains ‘Unchanged’ As Trump Pushes ‘Nuclear Option’

WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office confirmed to The Daily Wire that he continues to support the filibuster and his position remains “unchanged” by President Donald Trump’s call to abandon the filibuster as the government shutdown hits day 31.

On Thursday night, Trump took to Truth Social to urge Republicans to use the so-called “nuclear option.”

The president praised Republican leaders, saying Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson are doing a “GREAT job, but the Democrats are Crazed Lunatics that have lost all sense of WISDOM and REALITY.”

“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!” Trump said.

The filibuster requires 60 votes to end debate on most legislation before it can proceed to a final vote.

The ongoing government shutdown has dragged on because Republicans hold only 53 seats, leaving them short of the 60 votes needed to advance the House-passed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government. So far, the closest vote has been 55 — just five short of the threshold.

Trump said he believes if Democrats ever came back into power, they would end the filibuster “in the first day they take office, regardless of whether or not we do it.”

However, not everyone agrees ending the filibuster is the solution.

On October 10, Thune explained why he opposed eliminating it:

FLASHBACK: Here is @LeaderJohnThune prev. comments from 10/10 where he explained why he is AGAINST getting rid of the filibuster:

“The filibuster protects..”

This morning, Thune’s office confirmed his position is “unchanged.”@realDailyWire pic.twitter.com/LfpQo9Z2sI

— Amber Jo Cooper (@AmberJoCooper) October 31, 2025

Thune said the “supermajority requirement is something that makes the Senate the Senate,” adding that without it, “there’s a whole lot of bad things could have been done by the other side.”

“The 60-vote threshold has protected this country and frankly, that’s what I think this last election was largely about because if the Democrats had won the majority, they probably would have tried to nuke the filibuster,” Thune said.

He added that Democrats had “six or seven things that they were going to do” when they attempted to nuke  the filibuster.

In 2022, Democrats attempted to eliminate the filibuster, but former independent Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) voted with Republicans to keep it.

“And then you’d have four new U.S. Senators from Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, you’d have a packed Supreme Court, you’d have abortion on demand — a whole bunch of things that were on that laundry list,” Thune said.

The Senate Majority Leader said he believes the filibuster “protects” and has been “a voice for the minority.”

“It gives the minority a say in what happens in this country. The founders created the Senate, uniquely that way, for that specific reason,” Thune said.

Through the entire standoff, Thune has maintained his position, calling on Democrats to join Republicans to end the shutdown.

“It’s just really not that complicated. All it takes is a little backbone, a little courage on behalf of five Democrats to do what they have done and what we’ve done for decades when it comes to funding the government,” he added.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso’s spokeswoman confirmed to The Daily Wire that his support of the filibuster is “unchanged” as well.

Barrasso previously appeared on Fox & Friends and said there “aren’t the Republicans that would want to support it.”

“The Democrats would love for us to do that. They tried to do it last time because they wanted to add D.C. and Puerto Rico as states with more Democrat senators. They wanted to expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13, and they wanted to get rid of voter ID, so that’s not something that we’re going to entertain,” Barrasso said.

Thune told Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro last week that everything is “harder than it should be” right now, but he believes rank-and-file Democrats will eventually break from leadership and reopen the government.

“I just think we ought to be able to do this the old fashioned way and that is open up the government by just having five more Democrats vote with us and that’s all it’s going to take,” Thune said.

“We don’t need to end the filibuster,” Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton said on Oct. 27 on Fox News. “We need five more Democrats to come to their senses and open the government. Senate Republicans will not be baited by nonsensical Democrat demands.”

When asked about the filibuster Friday, Speaker Johnson said his opinion is “not relevant.”

“I don‘t have a say in this. It is a Senate chamber issue. We do not have that in the House. But, the filibuster has traditionally has been viewed as a very important safeguard,” Johnson said.

NOW: @SpeakerJohnson on Trump calling on Republicans to nuke the filibuster:

“I don‘t have a say in this. It is a Senate chamber issue. We do not have that in the House. But, the filibuster has traditionally has been viewed as a very important safeguard…” @realDailyWire pic.twitter.com/FukEMWBYQD

— Amber Jo Cooper (@AmberJoCooper) October 31, 2025

With Senate Republican leaders united in support of the filibuster, the only way out of the shutdown appears to be for Senate Democrats to vote on the continuing resolution to reopen the government. The longer they delay, the more Republicans are ramping up their offense.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a digital ad campaign Friday targeting Senate Democrat incumbents and Democrat challengers for “fighting to give free healthcare to illegal aliens over feeding American families.”

The NRSC slammed Democrats for voting to keep the government closed 13 times. It said “Schumer’s Shutdown is threatening to end SNAP assistance this week for 42 million Americans who rely on it to feed their families,” the group said in a press release.

“Democrats are pandering to the far Left, and voters won’t forget it in 2026,” NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said.