By Sandy Fitzgerald | Thursday, 30 April 2026 04:08 PM EDT
President Donald Trump declared Thursday that Senate Republicans must immediately end the filibuster to advance critical legislation, warning that failure to act would stall his agenda and hurt the party politically.
Expressing frustration with GOP holdouts, Trump stated the procedural rule is preventing action on priorities including tax policy, election reform, and law enforcement funding. “I think it’s very foolish for the Republicans not to immediately terminate the filibuster and get everything approved,” he said. “If we did that, we could get things done at a record clip.”
Trump noted only a small number of Republican senators are blocking the move. “It’s shocking that there are some, a couple of people that just don’t want to do it,” he said. “Now, why? You’ll have to ask them.”
He said the impasse is allowing Democrats to block policies tied to border security and law enforcement. “What they’re doing with respect to defunding all of our law enforcement, frankly, which is really what they are doing, they defund ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], they defund Border Patrol, they defund some of our greatest people, our greatest patriots,” Trump added.
Trump warned that Democrats would move quickly to eliminate the filibuster if they regain control of Washington. “The Democrats will do it in their first hour, and they’ll use it in the first day,” he said. “They’ll be adding additional states, and they’ll be adding additional Supreme Court justices. I hear up to 21 is the number they really want.”
He tied the issue directly to upcoming elections, stating that legislative success would translate into political gains. “If we terminate the filibuster, we will pass so many things, not only the SAVE America Act, but every other thing that the Republicans have ever wanted,” Trump said. “And that will lead to a landslide election victory.”
Trump concluded: “If we don’t pass it, it’s going to be much tougher. There’s no question about it, in my mind.”
