Congress
GOP senators hold firm on filibuster after Trump’s hard sell
President Donald Trump took his pitch to nix the filibuster directly to Senate Republicans on Wednesday. They are once again saying, thanks, but no thanks.
Trump spent several minutes during a breakfast meeting with GOP senators at the White House urging them to eliminate the 60-vote supermajority requirement for most bills and reopen the government on party lines — even as he acknowledged Republicans might not do it and said he would ultimately respect their “wishes.”
“It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do,” Trump said. “If you don’t terminate the filibuster you’ll be in bad shape.”
But Senate GOP leaders quickly reiterated that it’s simply not happening.
“I’ve said before there are not the votes there,” said Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), adding that Trump “could have some sway with members, but I just know where the math is on this issue in the Senate.”
Privately Republicans acknowledge they aren’t anywhere close to having the votes to change the rules. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) pointed to the number of GOP senators who have recently backed the filibuster, adding that Trump is “very attuned to the political realities.”
Several GOP senators also reiterated Wednesday they would not support a change. Opposition from just four of the 53 Senate Republicans could stop Trump’s demand cold.
“I’d never vote to nuke the filibuster,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) similarly said in an interview, “I have long said I don’t support nuking the filibuster.” And Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of Senate GOP leadership, called the filibuster an “important aspect of how the Senate operates.”
The firm opposition hasn’t stopped Trump from hammering Republicans, arguing Democrats will do it when they have control. Republicans have resisted changing the rules in part because it would come back to bite them once they are back in the minority.
Trump appeared to acknowledge Wednesday that he doesn’t have the votes but said he hoped to sway some senators. “I’m going to go by your wishes,” he said, “but it’s a tremendous mistake.”
Nicholas Wu and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
Congress
No filibuster deal with House conservatives, Thune says
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Tuesday he has made no decisions about bypassing Senate filibuster rules to skirt the normal 60-vote margin required to advance legislation in the chamber.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said Monday she had White House-brokered “assurances” that the Senate would allow for a “standing” or “talking” filibuster that could allow the SAVE Act, a House-passed elections bill pushed by conservative hard-liners, to be enacted into law.
Thune was not party to Luna’s conversation with President Donald Trump, which prompted Luna to indicate she would support a massive spending bill moving through the House on Tuesday. Many GOP senators have long opposed weakening the 60-vote margin, believing it would open the door to far-reaching Democratic policies.
“Some of our colleagues in the Senate are interested in it,” Thune said. “We will have a conversation about it. Nothing decided.”
Congress
House GOP leaders set noon deadline for Clintons to reach deal on testifying
Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview Tuesday morning that Republicans have given Bill and Hillary Clinton a noon deadline Tuesday to provide details of how they plan to comply with a pair of subpoenas issued by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which have until this point gone unheeded.
Otherwise, Johnson said, Republicans will move forward with votes later this week to hold the former president and secretary of state in criminal contempt of Congress.
“We’re holding off until noon,” Johnson said. “They have a deadline until noon to work out the details, and if it’s not done satisfactorily, then we’ll proceed with the contempt.”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise also said in an interview that, if the details aren’t provided, then Republicans will proceed with a vote Wednesday as leadership had initially intended before the Clintons surprised Capitol Hill by reversing course. They had for months been resisting subpoenas to testify in the House Oversight investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the process was invalid and designed to embarrass and put them in prison.
According to a person granted anonymity to share internal discussions between the Oversight Committee and the Clintons’ legal team, the GOP-led panel is seeking clarification that the Clintons will accept the standard deposition terms for which they were originally subpoenaed. That includes transcribed, filmed depositions to take place in February, with no time limits.
Congress
Capitol agenda: Shutdown hinges on razor-thin rule vote
House Republican leaders are facing a white-knuckle vote Tuesday morning as they move to end the partial shutdown after four days.
Here’s what we’re watching on both sides of the aisle as an unpredictable day shakes out in the House.
— Razor-thin rule vote: Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump got involved in wrangling hard-liner holdouts Monday who were threatening to oppose the procedural measure setting up final debate of the $1.2 trillion spending package.
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) started the day threatening to tank the rule if the SAVE Act, a partisan elections bill, wasn’t attached. But a White House meeting left the duo in a better place, with Luna telling reporters Monday night she got “assurances on the standing filibuster” that would allow the bill to pass the Senate.
One big caveat: There’s been no acknowledgment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune that any such deal is in place.
Various proposals for a “standing filibuster” or “talking filibuster” have been rattling around for years on both sides of the aisle — most recently from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — but that hasn’t convinced the vast majority of Senate Republicans who want to keep the 60-vote threshold in place.
While Luna said she expected “an announcement” on a rules change that would force Democrats to hold the floor in order to block the bill, no such announcement appears imminent. But her remarks — and a big midday Truth Social nudge from Trump — were enough to buoy GOP leaders.
Asked Monday night if he was confident he had the votes to move forward and end the shutdown, Johnson said, “I think we do.”
— Dems fume over another Senate jam: While Democrats are expected to unite against the rule, party leaders declined to comment on how they would vote on the overall package ahead of Tuesday morning’s closed-door caucus meeting.
It appears it will be a vote of conscience: A whip alert circulated Monday night urged a “no” vote on the rule but did not offer any guidance for the underlying bill, which funds most federal agencies but ends Department of Homeland Security funding after Feb. 13.
Still, many House Democrats have been left grumbling — again — after being sidelined in negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House.
Top leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are playing down tensions over the deal, but many in the rank-and-file are miffed at getting jammed with a spending bill they oppose for a third time in less than a year.
“We end up having to answer for what [the Senate] won’t do, and it can be very frustrating,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said.
What else we’re watching:
— House moves to overturn DC tax law: The House Rules Committee teed up floor consideration this week for a bill that would roll back a D.C. law that declines to apply key tax cuts from last summer’s megabill to local income taxes in the city.
In that measure, the D.C. Council decided not to adopt 13 separate tax provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including several key incentives the GOP restored for businesses and the deductions for tipped income, overtime pay, new car loan interest and seniors.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to consider its version of the resolution Wednesday.
Meredith Lee Hill and Bernie Becker contributed to this report.
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