Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to say Thursday whether he would support the elimination of the legislative filibuster, just moments after Senate Republicans invoked the “nuclear option” to end debate on Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court by lowering the cloture threshold from 60 to 51 votes.
Cruz said that while there is not a majority to change the legislative filibuster rules, it could change if Democrats continue to block President Trump’s agenda.
“At this point, there is not a majority for ending the legislative filibuster,” Cruz said. “My hope is that Democrats will stop their unreasonable across-the-board obstruction and allow the Senate to operate. If they continue an unmovable blockade, I suspect the votes will shift on that question as well.”
When pressed a second time if he supports the move, he declined to say.
“Let’s wait and see how the facts develop,” Cruz said.
Despite Cruz’s wait-and-see approach, some of his Senate colleagues believe there is no appetite to revise the legislative filibuster. Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters that he does not believe the move would happen despite the GOP’s move to end the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
“I hope there will be continuing conversations of how we can… preserve the legislative cloture requirement, which is something that on a bipartisan basis everybody agrees to,” Cornyn said.
Gorsuch’s nomination vote is slated for Friday evening before the Senate breaks for a two-week recess.
