President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the "Nuclear Option" of scrapping the key 60-vote threshold required for the Senate to advance legislation, as Republicans face mounting pressure to end the US federal shutdown.
The move would get rid of a longstanding rule that enables 41 of the 100 senators to block any bill from debate or vote -- a longstanding procedural check on power, relied on by both parties in the past.
The filibuster effectively forces Democrats and Republicans to find bipartisan solutions.
"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!" the 79-year-old Republican wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform Thursday night.
"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,'" he added in the post.
The federal shutdown that began on October 1 has meant no paychecks for thousands of federal workers and a stop to basic government functions across the US.
From grinding air traffic to a halt at some airports, to preventing the release of federal GDP figures, to unstaffed national parks, many basic government services across the United States have been affected.
Food stamps are rapidly becoming one of the most pressing points in the shutdown, with 42 million low-income Americans set to lose access to vital help with grocery bills starting Saturday.
Approximately 23.7 million SNAP recipients live in states that voted for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, while 18 million recipients live in states and districts that voted Democrat.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown could cost the economy up to $14 billion.
It's unclear how removing a filibuster would work -- if the threshold for votes would be lowered, or certain bills could be made immune, or whether so-called talking filibusters could be revived, wherein senators must give long speeches to prevent advancement of business.
In his first term, Trump unsuccessfully pushed to end the filibuster.
With AFP
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