Former President Donald Trump said Monday that ending the filibuster in the Senate would be catastrophic for Republicans.
During an interview on the podcast “The Truth with Lisa Boothe,” Trump mentioned Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s efforts to stop Democrats from eliminating the filibuster, saying McConnell is “hanging by a thread right now with respect to the filibuster.”
“And if they get the filler, he’s hanging on Joe Manchin, who always goes with the Democrats. Joe talks, but he ends up going with the Democrats. Now there’s another great senator from the state of Arizona. He’s hanging by a thread and if they get rid of the filibuster, if they knock it out, it will be catastrophic for the Republican Party,” Trump said in the interview.
In this screenshot taken from a congress.gov webcast, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks on the fourth day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by congress.gov via Getty Images)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he told Trump that he should not push to end the Senate filibuster during his presidency. In an interview with Fox News, McConnell mentioned that Trump asked him to work out a deal to end the filibuster for a number of years during his presidency, but that he rejected Trump’s request. (RELATED: ‘Not In Your Best Interest’: McConnell Says He Said ‘No’ When Trump Wanted To End Senate Filibuster)
“President Trump tried to get me to orchestrate the end of the filibuster for a number of years, even tweeted about it, and I said ‘no, Mr. President, that is not in the best interest of the institution … it’s actually not in your best interest either,’” McConnell said.
“I said no. They’re prepared to steamroll the Senate into a majoritarian body like the House, because it inconveniently gets in the way of all they want to do,” McConnell added.
President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that he would support changes to the Senate filibuster, saying that he would back a rule that required objecting lawmakers to be on the floor. (RELATED: Biden Suggests He Is Open To Restoring Traditional Filibuster, Would Require Continued Speaking)
As Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, there has been discussion about possibly voting to eliminate the filibuster. Abolishing the filibuster would allow any legislation to pass with a simple majority.