Thune Responds After Trump Renews Demand To End Filibuster
I have seen enough, and heard enough excuses. We cannot let Democrats sabotage this country.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) April 17, 2026
If nuking the filibuster is the only way to deliver on wildly popular legislation like the SAVE America Act, then we need to nuke the filibuster and start passing bills.
Thune, however, who is supposed to be the chamber’s leader and the leader of the party in the Senate, made excuses.
“Again, reality is, the votes aren’t there, and we can talk about the relative merits of the filibuster, or whether it’s relevant in the modern world,” Thune recently told reporters. “All those things are great conversations, but the practical reality is, the math isn’t there. It doesn’t add up, we don’t have the votes.”
“I say, end the filibuster,” Trump told The Daily Signal March 29. “Terminate the filibuster. Just vote, and you’ll get everything you want.”
I asked @POTUS his response to concerns reconcilation won't work to pass SAVE America.
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) March 30, 2026
"The parliamentarian is going to have to make a decision on that," he told @DailySignal.
"I say, end the filibuster. Terminate the filibuster. Just vote, and you'll get everything you… pic.twitter.com/Xo39bVZ2Ha
Trump told the Daily Signal late last month that Republicans should do the right thing and nuke it
Four anti-Trump Republicans voted on Thursday against a measure that would include elements of the SAVE America Act in a budget reconcilation bill that funds elements of the Department of Homeland Security for years.
Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all of them Trump nemeses, joined all Democrats in rejecting a provision offered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).
Their defection occurred during the Senate’s lengthy “vote-a-rama,” where lawmakers could propose votes on a wide range of amendments, regardless of their alignment with the main budget plan. The amendment failed with a vote of 48 to 50, highlighting what several Republicans had cautioned for weeks prior to their attempt to take control of the floor for the debate on the SAVE America Act last month — it lacked sufficient support within the GOP to pass, Fox noted.
Four anti-Trump Republicans voted on Thursday against a measure that would include elements of the SAVE America Act in a budget reconcilation bill that funds elements of the Department of Homeland Security for years
Tillis and McConnell are retiring after their current term, which ends in January.
