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Senate majority leader indicates there's not enough support to eliminate filibuster despite Trump push
By Alex Nitzberg
Published November 04, 2025
While President Donald Trump is pressuring Senate Republicans to nix the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during an interview on Fox News Radio's "Guy Benson Show" that "there just simply aren't the votes" to eliminate the "60-vote threshold."
While Republicans hold the majority in the upper chamber, the procedural hurdle serves as a check on the majority party's power due to the threshold required to advance matters towards a vote in the chamber.
Thune suggested that there is likely no more than 10 to 12 of the 53 GOP senators who would vote to eliminate the filibuster.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Republican leadership following a policy luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The senator said it had been an "important tool" for Republicans when they had the minority, noting that last year they "blocked a whole host of terrible Democrat policies" due to "the 60-vote threshold."
While Thune suggested that Democrats would vote to eliminate the filibuster if they have the majority, he warned that if Republicans "do their dirty work for them," Republicans will "own all the crap" Democrats would later do.
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President Donald Trump is pushing Republicans to end the procedural hurdle.
"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. Elections, including the Midterms, will be rightfully brutal," the president declared in a portion of a lengthy Truth Social post.
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President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese at the White House on Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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"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. WE WILL BE THE PARTY THAT CANNOT BE BEATEN - THE SMART PARTY!!!" he declared.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-majority-leader-indicates-theres-not-enough-support-eliminate-filibuster-despite-trump-push