As Donald Trump was traveling over the pond and headed back to D.C. after a successful trip to Asia, he gave an order to the Senate.
Trump wanted the filibuster eliminated so that the Senate could pass the continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government.
His order, however, has been rejected.
We started to see the first shutdown-related cracks in the Senate after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tried to get legislation passed to fund SNAP during the closure.
Hawley knows that the optics of not funding this program, regardless of how we feel about it, are not good. When you are guaranteed to see kids on TV with no food on the table, you can just imagine how the media and Democrats are going to slant the story.
Hawley’s bill was rejected by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who stated, "You start going down that road with one-off bills or take care of this group or that group, and it's just like, it begs the larger question, how long… is this going to drag on? I think that the quickest way to end it is to just open everything up and then everybody gets paid.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) also chimed in, adding, "I think we should close the door on it. Why are we picking winners and losers inside the government? The fact is, we're shut down. We need to open it back up. Say you decided to fund the SNAP program. What about the employees that got to produce the paperwork and get it done? Are you not going to pay them?"
Trump made his wishes known while traveling back from his trip, posting to Truth Social, “It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option -- Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW.”
Trump also posted, “Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.’”
This is going to create a problem for GOP leadership on many different levels, most notably the narrative that the GOP is not in power even though they have the majority.
Again, I will never understand why Trump fights these battles on social media rather than calling people into his office to discuss them. This is a disaster for the party in terms of holding the line against Democrats.
There have been some small signs that Trump is starting to lose his grip on the party in terms of getting members to bend at his will, but nothing like we are seeing during this shutdown.
Trump has apparently lost the loyalty of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and now Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), who we barely ever hear a peep out of, has spoken up that he will not support eliminating the filibuster.
He stated, “The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate. Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t. I’m a firm no on eliminating it.”
Is this the end of the world for Trump? No, but it is not a good look for a president who has managed to push the caucus to his will up until this moment. But it also goes back to my point that you should not be having these squabbles in the media. This should have been a behind-closed-doors discussion to hash things out. Now, the media and Democrats are going to feast.
