U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent encouraged Republicans to eliminate the filibuster in a Washington Post op-ed on Sunday.
“For generations, the filibuster has been romanticized as the Senate’s guardian of deliberation,” Bessent wrote. “In reality, it is a historical accident that has evolved into a standing veto for the minority and a license for paralysis. What once seemed like a dignified brake on hasty lawmaking now blocks even routine governance. It’s time for Republicans to acknowledge that the filibuster no longer serves the country — and to be prepared to end it.”
Bessent criticized Democrats for using the legislative filibuster to enact the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and cause, according to him, $11 billion in permanent economic damage, 1.5% loss in GDP growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 and over 9,000 canceled flights.
He argued that the filibuster itself was not in the Constitution and wasn’t introduced as a concept until 1806.
“Today, the minority party can abuse the filibuster to the point of rendering the Senate almost useless as a deliberative body,” Bessent wrote.
He criticized Republican senators who argued against eliminating the filibuster, warning that they are “ignoring basic game theory” since Democrats would likely eliminate the filibuster themselves once they are back in power.
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“We cannot allow a procedural fossil to hold the country hostage. Ending the filibuster would break the legislative stalemate, make government more responsive to the needs of voters and restore the Senate to its proper function,” Bessent closed.
Under the filibuster, the Senate requires a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation. Eight Senate Democrats were needed to pass a House-passed continuing resolution to end the recent government shutdown.
The Trump administration has been pushing Republican senators to eliminate the filibuster since October, when President Donald Trump urged them to use the “nuclear option” to end the shutdown.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Radio’s Guy Benson earlier this month that “there just simply aren’t the votes” to eliminate the filibuster at this point in time and called it an “important tool” that held back Democratic policies in 2024.
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.
