President Donald Trump told Senate Republicans on Wednesday morning that abolishing the Senate filibuster is the “only way” to end the government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history.
Speaking during a breakfast meeting with GOP senators at the White House, Trump urged them to “play tough” and push to eliminate the 60-vote rule that has repeatedly stalled efforts to pass a funding bill. Republican leaders, however, remain firmly opposed to changing the rule, warning it would destroy one of the chamber’s last institutional safeguards.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Trump said, according to people familiar with the discussion. “The only way to end this shutdown is to get rid of the filibuster.”
(cbsnews.com)
The president’s comments underscored both the growing frustration inside the GOP and the widening distance between the White House and Senate Republicans over how to end the impasse.
Shutdown Becomes the Longest in U.S. History
The government shutdown reached Day 35 on Tuesday, surpassing the record set during Trump’s first term in 2018–2019. That earlier shutdown lasted 35 days before Trump agreed to a short-term deal reopening the government for three weeks.
This latest shutdown officially broke the record Tuesday evening at 8:23 p.m. ET, adjusted for the recent time change. Flights have been delayed, food assistance funds are running dry, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain without pay.
“Shutdowns are stupid,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week. “Nobody wins, and the American people ought to hold us all accountable.”
Trump’s latest push to end the filibuster reflects his impatience with the Senate’s procedural hurdles and his reluctance to negotiate directly with Democrats.
Election Results: Trump Admits Shutdown Hurt Republicans
During the breakfast, Trump also acknowledged that the prolonged shutdown may have contributed to Republican losses in Tuesday’s elections, which saw Democrats pick up several key local and state races.
“I don’t think it was good for Republicans. I’m not sure it was good for anybody,” he said. “But we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot, and we’re going to talk about that.”
(abcnews.com)
The president said he plans to discuss the results further with GOP senators in a private session following the breakfast.
“We’ll talk about what last night represented and what we should do about it,” he said.
According to aides, the White House has begun internal reviews of the political fallout from the shutdown, with senior advisers privately warning Trump that prolonged stalemate risks alienating key suburban voters ahead of 2026.
Supreme Court Case Looms Over Executive Power
As Trump met with senators, the Supreme Court was preparing to hear a case challenging his use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on imports from more than 100 countries. The ruling could reshape the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress.
Legal experts say the decision will carry major implications for American businesses, consumers, and presidential authority—and could reverberate politically if the justices curb the scope of Trump’s emergency powers.
(reuters.com)
Bottom Line
President Trump told Senate Republicans that ending the filibuster is the only way to break the record-long government shutdown, even as most GOP senators resist the idea.
He conceded the shutdown hurt Republicans in this week’s elections and promised a private discussion on lessons learned.
With the Supreme Court weighing Trump’s executive power and Congress still locked in stalemate, the government remains shuttered — its reopening now tied to a rule as old as the Senate itself.