President Donald Trump just dropped a political bombshell, pushing Senate Republicans to ditch the filibuster with a bold call for the "nuclear option" to break a month-long government deadlock.
The New York Post reported that since October 1, 2025, the federal government has been shuttered due to a funding lapse, and Trump's frustration with Democratic resistance has now boiled over into a demand for drastic Senate rule changes to pass a resolution with a simple majority.
Back on October 21, 2025, Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune over lunch in the White House Rose Garden, likely pressing his action case.
Later that day, Thune and other Senate Republican leaders held a press conference outside the White House, though the filibuster issue wasn’t publicly on the table then.
Earlier in October, Thune had outright rejected using the nuclear option to resolve the shutdown, even claiming no discussions with the White House had occurred on the matter.
Fast forward to October 30, 2025, and Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after a trip to South Korea, seemed fed up with the gridlock, hinting at deeper reflections on the shutdown’s impact.
Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to vent, airing his exasperation with Democrats who’ve blocked a Republican funding proposal over a dozen times since the shutdown started.
With all but three Senate Democrats voting against the Trump-supported plan, Republicans are stuck needing five more votes to hit the current 60-vote threshold to move forward.
Trump’s posts didn’t hold back, painting a picture of a party out of touch with reality. "The Democrats are Crazed Lunatics that have lost all sense of WISDOM and REALITY," he wrote on Truth Social, though one wonders if such fiery rhetoric will bridge the partisan divide or just widen it.
During his recent Asia trip, Trump noted that foreign leaders repeatedly asked how Democrats could halt the U.S. government and why Republicans hadn’t countered effectively.
He admitted to mulling over this question during his long flight back from South Korea, suggesting the international embarrassment of a paralyzed government is weighing heavily on him.
Meanwhile, on October 30, 2025, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson joined House Republican leaders at a Capitol press conference, though specifics of their stance on the filibuster fight remain under wraps.
Trump’s solution is clear—scrap the filibuster, a move he calls the "TRUMP CARD," to pass legislation without the 60-vote hurdle.
"It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!" he declared on Truth Social, signaling a willingness to upend Senate tradition for results.
Yet, Thune’s earlier pledge in January 2025 to preserve the filibuster when Republicans took Senate control casts doubt on whether Trump’s urgency will sway party leadership.
While Trump hosted a Halloween event with First Lady Melania Trump at the White House on October 30, 2025, the real fright seems to be a government stuck in limbo, with both sides digging in and everyday Americans caught in the crossfire.
