Trying to end the filibuster...

Trump doubles down on call for GOP senators to nix filibuster

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump on Friday once again renewed his call for the Senate to do away with the legislative filibuster, a step Senate Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell

Mitch McConnell has vowed never to take.

“If Senate Republicans don’t get rid of the Filibuster Rule and go to a 51% majority, few bills will be passed. 8 Dems control the Senate!” Trump wrote on Twitter Friday morning.

Frustrated by Senate Democrats’ ability to throw up roadblocks in front of his legislative agenda, Trump has regularly called on McConnell to undo the chamber’s filibuster rules and allow bills to pass with a simple majority instead of the 60-vote threshold currently required for most legislation.

But Republicans have struggled thus far into Trump’s administration to collect even 51 votes on some key issues, including on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, which failed to clear the simple majority threshold earlier this summer, at least temporarily stalling one of the president’s top priorities.

McConnell has been emphatic in his position that he will not remove the 60-vote threshold for pieces of legislation, a step that both he and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have previously taken on confirmation votes for judicial nominees. “There's not a single senator in the majority who thinks we ought to change the legislative filibuster. Not one,” McConnell said last April.

Asked if that meant he would not alter the filibuster rule during his tenure as majority leader, McConnell replied, “Correct.”

In another pair of tweets Friday morning, the president also touted his administration’s successes and praised his new chief of staff, John Kelly. Trump also seemingly sought to quell any rumors of discontent within the White House.

“General John Kelly is doing a fantastic job as Chief of Staff. There is tremendous spirit and talent in the W.H. Don’t believe the Fake News,” Trump wrote online.

“Few, if any, Administrations have done more in just 7 months than the Trump A. Bills passed, regulations killed, border, military, ISIS, SC!” he added minutes later, using abbreviations to celebrate the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and military progress against Islamic State militants.