Trump Demands Action From GOP Senators, Wants Filibuster Terminated ‘This Afternoon’

President Donald Trump ramped up his pressure campaign to end the filibuster on Wednesday, telling Republican senators in a White House meeting that it’s “very important” for the GOP to “terminate the filibuster” and reopen the government.

In the past week, Trump has called for the end of the filibuster multiple times as Democrats continue to block GOP efforts to pass a short-term spending bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Trump took another step in his call for the end of the filibuster in Wednesday’s meeting, making his plea directly to Republican senators.

Trump suggested that Republicans should end the filibuster as soon as “this afternoon.”

“I think it’s very important. We have to get the country open, and the way we’re going to do it this afternoon is to terminate the filibuster,” he said. “And it’s possible you’re not going to do that, and I’m going to go by your wishes. You’re smart people. We’re good friends, but it would be a tremendous mistake, it would be a tragic mistake, actually. It’s time.”

The filibuster allows senators to prolong debate on legislation; 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster and proceed to a vote on a bill. The minority party often uses the filibuster to block votes on bills pushed by the ruling party. Republicans have cautioned against ending the filibuster, saying that it would set a precedent that would also be used against the GOP in the future. Trump, however, argued that Democrats will nuke the filibuster the next time they have power.

“We have to do it first,” the president said. “We’ll end up with two, three years, and we’ll have this country so perfect. We will have passed more legislation than any Congress and any group of senators or group of congressmen. … It will be a beautiful machine. Otherwise, we’re just going to sit around and argue with these people all day long, and they’re highly unrealistic. Many of them are radical Left subversives, frankly.”

.@POTUS to GOP Senators: “I think it’s very important. We have to get the country open, and the way we’re going to do it… is to terminate the filibuster… It’s time, it’s time… We’ll end up with two, three years, and we’ll have this country so perfect.” pic.twitter.com/Clrd60V7nS

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 5, 2025

Trump added that keeping the filibuster alive would ultimately hurt Republicans.

“If [Democrats] take power, and it’s more likely that they take power if we don’t [end the filibuster] because we won’t be passing any legislation,” he said.

.@POTUS: “If I thought that they weren’t going to pass the filibuster, I wouldn’t even bring it up. They’re going to pass it within the first hour… if [Democrats] take power… they’ll wreak havoc.” pic.twitter.com/ogxZN6PkVT

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 5, 2025

After the media left the room and cameras were turned off, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly disagreed with Trump on this point, and the two engaged in a “spirited back-and-forth,” according to CNN.

During his remarks, the president argued that if Democrats refuse to agree to a simple bill to extend government funding for even a short period, they won’t negotiate any significant legislation.

“We should start tonight with the country is open, congratulations, and then we should pass voter ID. We should pass no mail-in voting. We should pass all the things that we want to pass to make elections secure and safe,” Trump continued. “Because California is a disaster, many of the states are disasters.”

.@POTUS to Republican Senators: “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do — and that’s terminate the filibuster.” pic.twitter.com/BMUKPybb9a

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 5, 2025

Trump’s comments on Wednesday morning came hours after Axios reported that the president was preparing to ramp up pressure on Republican senators. One anonymous Trump adviser told Axios that the president planned on making GOP senators’ lives “a living hell.” Another anonymous adviser cited by Axios said that Trump is “really mad about this.”

As of last week, Republican Senate leadership remained “unchanged” in its support for the filibuster. The office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) told The Daily Wire last Friday that they continue to support the filibuster. Thune told reporters on Wednesday morning, “I know where math is on this issue in the Senate. It’s just not happening.”

When former President Joe Biden was in office with majorities in the House and Senate, some Democrats pushed for party leaders in the Senate to end the filibuster to pass leftist priorities, such as abortion protections, gun control, and packing the Supreme Court. Democrats’ efforts to eliminate the filibuster in 2021 were ultimately stopped by former moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.