President Donald Trump’s calls to end the government shutdown are becoming increasingly urgent.
Four times in five days, the president has urged Republican senators to resort to this “last resort,” even as congressional leaders maintain their support for the long-standing control of the ruling party.
In his latest letter, filled with platitudes, Trump warns that the midterm elections will be “truly brutal” for Republicans if they do not end the shutdown and pass a spending bill that allows government services to reopen.
“The Democrats are far more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election, if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!), because it will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes. FOR THREE YEARS, NOTHING WILL BE PASSED, AND REPUBLICANS WILL BE BLAMED,” Trump wrote Tuesday in a Truth Social post.
“TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER NOW, END THE RIDICULOUS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY, AND THEN, MOST IMPORTANTLY, PASS EVERY WONDERFUL REPUBLICAN POLICY THAT WE HAVE DREAMT OF, FOR YEARS, BUT NEVER GOTTEN,” he added.
A few hours later, he wrote a succinct follow-up post just in case he hadn’t been clear: “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!”
“If we do not end the filibuster (the nuclear option!), the Democrats will probably win the midterm elections, and the next presidential election, because it will be impossible for Republicans to implement sensible policies with these extreme Democrats who can block everything with their votes,” Trump wrote Tuesday on TruthSocial. “For three years, nothing will be passed, and the Republicans will be held responsible.”
The state has been paralyzed since September 30, as Congress has failed to pass a spending bill. Democrats are demanding that any spending plan include reversing the Republican-imposed cuts to Medicaid and extending tax breaks to prevent a surge in health insurance premiums next year.
Recent polls show that a majority of voters hold Republicans responsible for the government shutdown, and Trump is experiencing record-breaking approval ratings, with voters exasperated by his economic policies and handling of inflation. On Tuesday, voters went to the polls for local and state elections in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the first major electoral test of Trump’s second term.
While calling for an end to the obstructionist strategy, Trump took the opportunity to comment on the New York mayoral election.
“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” he wrote.
However, most of his posts were already focused on 2026, a year he predicted would be “truly brutal” if the obstructionist strategy continued.
“If we end the obstructionist policy, we will get every bill passed like no Congress ever has before. We will have fair, free, and secure elections; a ban on men competing in women’s sports and equality for all with transgender people; strong borders; massive reductions in taxes and energy costs; “And we will make sure that the Second Amendment, which the Democrats will also repeal, is immediately enforced,” he wrote in his first message.
However, Republican leaders in Congress have so far resisted.
The filibuster procedure, which requires a vote of 60 senators for any bill, has existed in various forms since the 1780s and was formally adopted in 1917, according to the U.S. Senate.
Last week, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CBS News that the Republican senator from South Dakota, who has previously rejected calls to change the filibuster rule, still opposes the measure.
“I like John Thune, I think he’s great, but I don’t agree with him on this,” Trump told CBS News correspondent Nora O’Donnell in an interview that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes.”
He also cautioned House Speaker Mike Johnson about repealing the rule, telling reporters, “Is it possible? Yes… Is it a wise decision? Many would say no.”
He added, “From a Republican perspective, I would be very concerned if the Democrats didn’t have a significant majority in the Senate right now.”
