Senate Republicans came out en masse Friday against President Trump’s call to end the legislative filibuster in order to pass a spending bill to fund his border wall.
The president re-upped the call a day after the House passed a spending bill including $5 billion toward the building of a border wall, which has little chance of passing the Senate due to the need for 60 votes. But Senate Republicans declined to jump on board and blamed the president’s need for “immediate gratification.”
“No. We don’t have 50 votes for it … That’s really not feasible,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “I think it’s a problem all of us have, which is a desire for immediate gratification without regard for long term consequences.”
The Texas Republican added that 60 senators have signed a letter saying that they would not invoke the “nuclear” option, adding that “it’s obviously not going to happen anytime soon.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that while the move could be made in the future and after he leaves the Senate, the spending deal is not the right time to do it. Corker announced in February he intends to retire.
“There may be a need for a changes. I mean, this isn’t working so well right now, but to do it now over this issue is totally inappropriate and I will not support that,” Corker said.
Other Senate Republicans also said that they will not support the president’s want for changes to the legislative filibuster. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who has announced he will retire at the end of his term, said that he will not vote to turn the upper chamber into a “rule-breaking institution.”
“We have rules to follow,” Alexander said in a statement. “I want to put a stop to this practice of the Senate breaking its rules to change its rules. I will not vote to turn the Senate into a rule-breaking institution and I hope that my colleagues will not.”
Two other outgoing Senate Republicans said they will not support the president’s call in Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Hatch, who is leaving after 7 terms in the Senate said that while the filibuster can be “inconvenient” at times, it is necessary.
“I’ve long said that eliminating the legislative filibuster would be a mistake,” Hatch said in a statement. “It’s what’s prevented our country for decades from sliding toward liberalism. It’s inconvenient sometimes, but requiring compromise is in the interest of both parties in the long term.”
The only Senate Republican to support the president’s call Friday was Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. The president thanked him for his support.
