Trump’s answer to GOP election losses: End the filibuster
The president argued that lowering the threshold to pass legislation would allow Republicans to move an agenda that would benefit them in next year’s midterms.
WASHINGTON—President Trump urged Republican senators to jettison the filibuster to pass GOP-backed legislation and preserve power in Congress after his party suffered losses in key races during Tuesday’s elections.
At a breakfast with GOP senators at the White House, the president argued that lowering the 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation in the chamber would allow the GOP to rack up policy victories that would boost its political prospects heading into next year’s midterm elections. The president also said that terminating the filibuster is the only way to end the government shutdown that has stretched on for 36 days and is now the longest in history.
“We will pass legislation at levels you’ve never seen before and it will be impossible to beat us," Trump said. The president said Republicans should pass legislation to restrict mail-in voting and mandate that voters be required to present identification before casting ballots.
Trump is facing resistance to eliminating the filibuster from prominent Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), who have defended the rule, saying it will rein in Democratic proposals when control of the Senate changes hands. Changing the filibuster rule would require a simple majority in the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 margin.
Trump argued that Democrats plan to eliminate the filibuster anyway—so Republicans should do it first. In his remarks, he predicted that if Democrats take control of Congress they will move to make Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico into states—likely adding four Democratic senators and more blue Electoral College votes—and attempt to add more liberal justices to the Supreme Court. He said that ending the filibuster now could keep Republicans in power indefinitely.
“They’re going to pick up our electoral votes and it’s going to be a very, very bad situation, and it’s done. It’s done as soon as they attain power," Trump said. But, he said, “If we do what I’m saying…they’ll most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine."
Democrats tried to weaken the filibuster when they had the majority during Joe Biden’s administration, but defections from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia doomed the effort. Sinema and Manchin are no longer serving in the Senate.
Trump also showed frustration with the government shutdown. Democrats have made extending healthcare subsidies a condition for voting to reopen the government.
“We have to get the country open," Trump said. The president acknowledged the resistance from some Republicans to terminating the filibuster, but said failing to end it would be a “tragic mistake."
Wednesday’s event marked Trump’s first public appearance since Republican candidates’ poor performance in Tuesday night’s elections. The president said the government shutdown was a “big factor" in the GOP’s losses.
“I don’t think it was good for Republicans. I don’t think it was good. I’m not sure it was good for anybody," Trump said of the election results.
Democrats flipped the Virginia governor’s mansion, with Democrat Abigail Spanberger soundly defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, and the party won in New Jersey, where Mikie Sherrill beat back a challenge from Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Democrats also increased their margins in Virginia and New Jersey, reversing the gains Trump made in the states in last year’s presidential results. Both Democratic candidates sought to put Trump on the ballot, making their campaigns a referendum on his leadership.
Trump’s allies were quick to blame the GOP candidates for the loss, rather than broader discontent with the president. “A Bad candidate and Bad campaign have consequences," said Chris LaCivita on X, referring to the Virginia loss. LaCivita was a top adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Democrats also notched a win in California, where voters backed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort at redrawing the state’s congressional maps to add more seats for his party. The victory buoys a key Trump antagonist who is eyeing a presidential run in 2028 and could complicate Republican efforts to hold on to their House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.
Zohran Mamdani won the New York mayoral race despite Trump’s last-minute endorsement of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Trump, a longtime New Yorker, had threatened to withhold federal funds to the country’s most populous city if Mamdani prevailed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, released a letter to Trump Wednesday morning, demanding a meeting with him and top Republican congressional leaders to end the shutdown and reach a deal to address spiking healthcare prices.
“Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace," they wrote.
Some progressive Democrats said the election should give the party confidence to keep their shutdown fight going.
“Maybe the take is that (a) people think Trump is out of control; and (b) people like Dems when we’re taking a stand and fighting for what we believe in—as we have been for the last month," Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) wrote social media Tuesday night.
Write to Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com, Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com and Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com
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