Last week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described the idea of “nuking the filibuster” – a procedural rule that allows senators to block a vote – “something that doesn't have a future,” but on Saturday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) revolted against the notion, arguing on behalf of eliminating the rule as a means to forward the Trump administration’s agenda.
“I understand why there's a reluctance to end the filibuster because, as Republicans and conservatives, we realize that our ability in the minority to stop awful legislation put forward by Democrats and the socialists in their party... we would have been down a far more destructive path a lot earlier were it not for the filibuster,” Johnson said during an appearance Saturday on Fox News.
“The problem though is times have changed. Democrats have already shown their cards, they've already purged the two members that prevented Democrats from ending the filibuster when they were last in this position. We know they'll nuke the filibuster next time they get into power, and, when they do it, they'll pack the Supreme Court, they'll turn D.C. and Puerto Rico into states, they'll turn this nation into a one-party state!”
Trump has frequently urged Senate Republicans to kill the filibuster, warning last year that failing to do so would result in the GOP losing control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. The demand, however, has been met with skepticism from a number of Republican lawmakers, most of whom expressed fears that doing so would provide Democratic lawmakers with unchallenged power when, or if, they reclaim congressional majorities.
Johnson does not consider himself among that group, and warned on Saturday that if his GOP colleagues refuse to nuke the filibuster, Republicans would end up looking like “schmucks.”
“We ought to end the filibuster for the benefit of the American people, to secure our elections, to secure our border, to provide the kind of prosperity that President Trump [is] trying to accomplish with [his] economic policies,” Johnson said.
“I wish that we could maintain the filibuster, but that time has passed! Next time Democrats are in power, they'll nuke it and we will look like schmucks!”