White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stirred controversy Wednesday by reiterating the demand that Senate Republicans eliminate the filibuster to accelerate President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Trump is pushing Senate Republicans to dismantle the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote requirement applicable to most legislation in the upper chamber, which, given the slim majorities held by either party in recent years, typically necessitates bipartisan support for bills to pass. Some Republicans claim this rule prevents unwanted, radical changes from Democrats, while others argue it hinders necessary reforms their party is trying to enact.
“Knowing the Democrats from past history, they’ll try to stage another shutdown before the midterms to cause maximum damage. It worked for them really this time, they feel, because they did well in those elections, those special elections,” Pod Force One podcast host Miranda Devine said. She then suggested that abolishing the filibuster might be the only solution to avoid such a scenario, questioning whether Trump remains determined to get Senate Republicans on board.
“Absolutely. He’s in total agreement that we need to let go of the filibuster. It’s not serving the purpose that it originally intended to serve anymore,” Leavitt stated. “It’s really a moot point, and he wants to see it gone so that he can have the most productive three years of any president ever.”
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She further emphasized that while some of his policies have already been enacted, his biggest campaign promises could be fulfilled if the filibuster is removed.
“He’s already been so productive in his first term. He ushered through the largest middle class tax cut in just 6 months, which is amazing. There’s so much more work to do. Election integrity, voter ID, getting rid of universal mail-in ballots. All of that can be done if Congress works together and gets rid of the filibuster,” she added.
Leavitt contended that Senate Republicans, not just Democratic opposition, must align themselves and back the president’s agenda.
“So, the president is definitely talking a lot about that both publicly and privately. I know he’s expressed his opinion on that to leaders in the Senate who may agree or disagree. We’ll have to see how it shakes out, but there’s so much that can be accomplished, and we must take advantage of having the most productive president in the Oval Office. You know, Republicans need to get off their butts and move and that’s what the president wants to see them do and that’s what the American people are expecting.”
When questioned about the likely outcome, Leavitt expressed optimism.
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“I’m not a betting woman. I’m not a gambler, but I would say, don’t bet against President Trump.” she said. “I mean, there’s been many challenges he’s faced where people think he couldn’t get the votes on topics that he did in fact get the votes. Look at the one big, beautiful bill, right? Everybody in Washington doubted his ability to get that done by the 4th of July, and he did it. And he’s unequivocally the leader of the Republican Party. Voters understand that and voters want to see the Trump agenda, the America first agenda implemented. And the best way to do that is to get rid of this nonsense rule that really has no impact on the Senate anymore.”
A Senate GOP aide commented on Leavitt’s interview in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“As Thune and many others in the conference have repeatedly said, the votes to eliminate the filibuster do not exist in the Senate Republican Conference. They have also been clear that the filibuster provides an incredibly important firewall that protects the American people from all of the extreme, hyper-partisan policies Democrats would pursue, and Republicans don’t want to do their dirty work for them by eliminating this tool,” a Senate GOP aide wrote. “Sinema and Manchin prevented Dems from eliminating it when they were in power, and it’s pretty common knowledge that there were others in the conference who voted the way they did because they knew it wouldn’t be abolished. So with that in mind, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Dems would have the votes to do it in a future majority, which is why they’d love for us to do it for them.”
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