Senate GOP resists ‘nuclear option’ as Dem shutdown standoff deepens

Senate Republicans aren’t ready to go “nuclear” again to change the rules around the Senate filibuster as Senate Democrats dig deeper against the GOP’s push to reopen the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans need at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for their continuing resolution (CR) to pass through the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

But only three Democratic caucus members have joined Republicans after six failed attempts to pass the short-term funding extension as the shutdown enters its second week.

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Republicans have already turned to the “nuclear option” to unilaterally change the rules this year to blast through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats’ blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominees. But for many, the notion of changing the rules and nuking the filibuster is a third rail.

“Never, never, ever, never, none,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital when asked if he would consider changing the rules.

“I’ve never heard that since the Democrats tried to do it, and I think we would all fight it pretty hard,” he continued.

The last time the filibuster was put under the microscope was when Democrats controlled the Senate in 2022. Schumer, who was majority leader at the time, tried to change the rules for a “talking filibuster” in order to pass voting rights legislation.

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However, the effort was thwarted when then-Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., joined Republicans to block the change. Both have since retired from the Senate and become Independents.

Republicans are not actively discussing changes to the filibuster.

“I don’t think that’s a conversation we’ve had,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “Right now, we think that the Democrats’ position has been untenable, and the more they hear from their constituents of their unreasonable activities, that will break this because we got a clean CR, so we got the better argument.”

Because of the filibuster, spending bills like a CR are generally bipartisan in nature. However, Senate Democrats have panned Republicans’ bill to reopen the government as partisan and argue that they had no input on it before it passed through the House late last month.

“I’m generally aware of how important it is to try to keep things bipartisan, using the filibuster as the tool to do that, but I also get the fact that after a while, the frustration just boils over,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital.

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Frustrations reached a new level in Congress on Wednesday, with Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., publicly arguing with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over the shutdown. Then there was another public back-and-forth between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

Still, neither side in the upper chamber is ready to budge from their positions.

Most Senate Democratic caucus members are rooted in their position that unless they get a deal on expiring Obamacare tax credits, they will not join Republicans to reopen the government.

Republicans have been adamant that negotiations on extending the subsidies — with reforms — can happen, but only after the government is reopened.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is the lone Senate Democrat who has voted with Republicans each time to reopen the government. He pointed out that Republicans had just changed Senate rules last month to advance Trump’s nominees.

“I think we probably should. If you’re able to get out of the filibuster to prevent either party to make it a lot harder to shut the government down, I’d absolutely support that,” Fetterman said.