GOP senators hold firm on filibuster after Trump’s hard sell

By Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes | 11/05/2025 04:22 PM EST

“I’d never vote to nuke the filibuster,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters.

Mike Crapo stands by Scott Bessent.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) is among the Senate GOP's quieter defenders of the filibuster. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump took his pitch to nix the filibuster directly to Senate Republicans on Wednesday. They are once again saying, thanks, but no thanks.

Trump spent several minutes during a breakfast meeting with GOP senators at the White House urging them to eliminate the 60-vote supermajority requirement for most bills and reopen the government on party lines — even as he acknowledged Republicans might not do it and said he would ultimately respect their “wishes.”

“It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do,” Trump said. “If you don’t terminate the filibuster you’ll be in bad shape.”

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But Senate GOP leaders quickly reiterated that it’s simply not happening.

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