Mitch McConnell says Trump's call to end the legislative filibuster 'will not happen'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is having none of President Trump's proposal for Republicans to end the Senate's legislative filibuster. After Trump in a Tuesday morning tweet suggested eliminating the filibuster in favor of letting legislation pass by a simple majority, McConnell outright told reporters later Tuesday that "will not happen."

Trump's push came on the heels of the recently negotiated budget proposal. Trump said the reason the bill was a compromise is that Republicans need "60 votes in the Senate, which are not there!" McConnell explained during his weekly press conference Tuesday that eliminating the 60-vote threshold required to end debate on legislation would "fundamentally change" the way the Senate has worked "for a very long time." "There is an overwhelming majority ... not interested in changing the way the Senate operates," McConnell said.

Politico noted that last month, 61 senators sent McConnell a letter pushing for the filibuster to stay in place. McConnell has previously vowed to keep the legislative filibuster in place "for as long as he was majority leader," The Hill reported.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Looks like Trump might have to resort to his other proposal in his Tuesday morning tweet, which is to "elect more Republican senators in 2018."