Thune: Scrapping Filibuster Is Not Going to Happen

President Trump urged Republican senators to scrap the filibuster at a White House breakfast Wednesday, but Senate Majority leader John Thune made it clear that there aren't enough votes. "We have to get the country open. And the way we're going to do it this afternoon is to terminate the filibuster," Trump told the senators, per Reuters. "It's time." He urged them to scrap the filibuster to end what is now the longest government shutdown in US history. After returning to the Capitol, however, Thune told reporters: "I know where the math is on this issue in the Senate, and it's not happening."

The GOP has 53 senators, and it would take a simple majority to scrap the chamber's 60-vote threshold, but numerous senators have pushed back against Trump's recent calls to end the filibuster. On Wednesday, Sen. John Kennedy called the filibuster important and said his position hasn't changed. "The role of a senator is not just to advance good ideas. The role of a senator it to kill bad ideas," Kennedy said. "And when you're in the minority, we're not now, but we could be someday, it's important to have a filibuster." Sen. Thom Tillis said: "There's nothing that could move me on the filibuster. I've been that way for 11 years. Too old to change now."

Sen. John Cornyn, however, who has long defended the rule, said he was open to changing the filibuster, citing "having a willful minority being able to shut down the government at any time they want to." Sen. Josh Hawley said he was wavering, ABC News reports. "My message is to my Democrat friends; we better find a way to get to the table real fast," he said. "Because if you're putting me to a choice between, are people going to eat, or am I going to defend the arcane filibuster rules, I'm going to choose people eating."

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During the White House breakfast, Trump blamed the shutdown for the GOP's election losses Tuesday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the results showed that "it is time to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to bring this Republican shutdown to an end," ABC reports. "We told the president we've been asking for a meeting for weeks and even months, but now the election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis," the Democrat said.