Trump urges Senate to scrap filibuster to end record-breaking government shutdown

US President Donald Trump has called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, claiming it’s the only way to end the weeks-long federal government shutdown that has paralysed Washington.

“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 wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, accusing “Crazed Lunatics” in the Democratic Party of deliberately blocking a deal.

“WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing [end the filibuster], it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN,’” he added.

The filibuster is a procedural Senate tactic that allows extended debate to delay or block legislation. Overcoming it requires 60 votes, a supermajority that neither party currently holds. Republicans control the Senate 53-47 and could technically abolish the rule with a simple majority, but doing so would shatter decades of legislative precedent.

The shutdown, now in its 31st day, began on October 1 after Democrats refused to back a Republican funding bill that included sweeping Medicaid cuts and policies likely to increase health insurance premiums. It’s on track to become the longest shutdown in US history if it passes the 35-day mark set in 2019, also under Trump.

Federal employees deemed “essential” continue to work without pay, including air traffic controllers, who this week were told they would miss their paychecks. The Congressional Budget Office warned the deadlock could cost the US economy between $7bn and $14bn.

Trump returned from an Asia tour this week, with stops in Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping, and said the trip made him reflect on the shutdown.

“The one question that kept coming up, however, was how did the Democrats SHUT DOWN the United States of America, and why did the powerful Republicans allow them to do it?” he wrote. “The fact is, in flying back, I thought a great deal about that question, WHY?”

Trump argued Democrats would end the filibuster “on the first day they take office” if roles were reversed.