00:00It's time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that's terminate the filibuster.
00:04The biggest thing is the filibuster.
00:05We have the filibuster.
00:06Terminate the filibuster.
00:07President Trump has responded to the beating Republicans took on election night by once
00:12again demanding that the GOP kill the filibuster, dedicating a good part of his remarks at a
00:18breakfast with Republican senators to the matter.
00:21It's not a new plea from the president, who has been loudly beating the drum on the issue
00:26both in his 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, in which he stated that Republicans have
00:31to get tougher, and in a Truth Social post last week, in which he argued that Republicans
00:37could end the country-destroying government shutdown with a simple majority vote if they
00:42would just deploy what he referred to as the nuclear option.
00:48It is now time for the Republicans to play their Trump card and go for what is called
00:52the nuclear option.
00:53Get rid of the filibuster and get rid of it now, the president wrote in a lengthy Truth
00:58Social post on Thursday.
01:01But what is the filibuster, and why is Trump's demand to eliminate the longstanding tactics
01:06so controversial as even his own party downplays the option?
01:10Here's everything you need to know.
01:12The filibuster is a unique tool available to senators that has been long deployed by both
01:17parties when they want to block or delay votes on a particular piece of legislation.
01:21They do it by preventing the debate on the issue from ending.
01:24A bill only needs a simple majority of 51 votes to pass upon completion of a debate, but it
01:30actually takes 60 votes to end the debate.
01:32So in reality, a 60-vote supermajority is needed to pass legislation in the Senate.
01:38Which means as long as a minority party has the power of the filibuster, they have the
01:41ability to block the agenda of the majority party.
01:45The filibuster, which comes from a Dutch word meaning pirate, is most traditionally employed
01:49by a single senator who refuses to yield the Senate floor by engaging in a long speech.
01:54This is called a talking filibuster.
01:56Amazingly, the first record of a long speech being used to delay legislation dates back to
02:00the very first ever session of the Senate in 1789.
02:04Pennsylvania Senator William McClay wrote in his diary about the event, noted that the design
02:08of the Virginians was to talk away the time so that we could not get the bill passed.
02:13The talking filibuster has a storied history in the country, including in Frank Capra's
02:17iconic 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which a young, honest senator played by Jimmy
02:23Stewart tirelessly filibusters on the Senate floor for 24 hours in what is portrayed as
02:28the ultimate patriotic act of an individual standing up against corruption or the minority
02:33refusing to bend to the tyranny of the majority.
02:36Let's get up off the ground, that's all I ask.
02:40Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this capitol dome, that lady that stands
02:45for liberty.
02:46Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something.
02:50And you won't just see scenery, you'll see the whole parade of what man's carved out
02:56for himself after centuries of fighting, and fighting for something better than just
03:00jungle law, fighting so that he can stand on his own two feet free and decent, like
03:06he was created, no matter what his race, color or cream.
03:09The tactic has also been used for theatrics in real life, though not always for such feel-good
03:14agendas.
03:15In 1957, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond took to the floor for more than 24 hours in
03:21opposition to the Civil Rights Bill.
03:23More recently, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker spoke for over 25 hours against the policies
03:28of the Trump administration in April 2025.
03:31the Senate.
03:32Would the senator yield for a question?
03:34Chuck Schumer, it's the only time in my life I can tell you no.
03:39I just want to tell you a question.
03:43Do you know you have just broken the record?
03:45Do you know how proud this caucus is of you?
03:48Do you know how proud America is of you?
03:53While the filibuster traditionally was only rarely employed for the most controversial
03:59issues facing the Senate, it has become much more common and much more disruptive in recent
04:04years.
04:05Calls to end the practice have grown louder as critics argue the move has led to complete
04:09deadlock in the Senate and the will of the majority thwarted.
04:12This has happened more often because of a second type of filibuster called the silent
04:17filibuster.
04:18The tactic, which started in the early 1970s but by now has almost entirely overtaken the
04:23talking filibuster, doesn't require any speeches or anyone taking the floor, just the threat
04:28of it.
04:29Once a senator decides to obstruct a vote, they alert the majority leader and if that senator
04:33has the support of at least 40 others, the majority leader won't call for a vote and
04:38the bill will be stalled.
04:39Now, as the government shutdown has been going on for a month, Trump seems to be over being
04:43held hostage by the minority party.
04:46Trump explained that during his Whirlwind Asia trip, the one question that kept coming
04:50up was how did the Democrats shut down the United States of America and why did the powerful
04:55Republicans allow them to do it?
04:56Trump continued,
04:57The fact is, in flying back, I thought a great deal about that question, why?
05:01The toughest hurdle for Trump's call to end the filibuster once and for all might come
05:05from his own party.
05:07House Speaker Mike Johnson told a reporter who asked about President Trump's post on nuking
05:12the filibuster to end the month-long government shutdown that it was just an expression of
05:16the president's anger.
05:17He is as angry as I am and the American people are about this madness and he just desperately
05:24wants the government to be reopened so that all these resources can flow to the people who
05:28need it so much.
05:30But the filibuster has traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard.
05:34If the shoe was on the other foot, I don't think our team would like it.
05:37Senate Majority Leader John Thune pledged to preserve the filibuster in January when
05:42Republicans took control of the upper chamber.
05:45And he has been standing by that vow ever since.
05:48On Monday, he told reporters the votes aren't there to invoke the so-called nuclear option.
05:54But that doesn't mean he hasn't heard the president loud and clear.
05:57When asked if he had spoken with Trump about the issue, Thune reportedly laughed and responded,
06:02oh yeah.
06:07It was 10 or 10 weeks ago.
06:08The .
06:09I want the
06:15gun пользов день over the всseless of the view.
06:17In January, the distribution of sowing in Peris has bloated the guit сим or three
06:25sites.
06:25I am entirely responsible for why the structure is not very thing.
06:27I am aware of them that we could run around a certain extent.
06:30In other words, Peter, Celia tells her least he has into the further interaging Philineers.
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