President Johnson warns Trump’s ‘nuclear’ demand could backfire on Republicans

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned against President Donald Trump’s demand that the Senate invoke the “nuclear option” to end the government shutdown.

Johnson was asked during his Friday news conference about a late-night Truth Social post in which Trump demanded that the Senate get rid of the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold to pass the GOP federal funding bill with a simple majority.

“Look, I’ll just say this generally, as I’ve said many times about the filibuster, it’s not my call. I don’t have any say in that. That’s a matter for the Senate chamber,” Johnson said. “But the filibuster is traditionally considered a very important safeguard. If the shoe were on the other foot, I don’t think our team would like it.”

Sixty votes are needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster and proceed to debate and a final vote on most legislation. Senate Democrats tried to get rid of it the last time they had the majority to pass reforms they accused Republicans of blocking, but they were blocked by more moderate members of their own party.

JOHNSON INCREASES STOP PRESSURE ON DEMOCRATS AS GOP MALASS GROWS

President Mike Johnson, left, and President Donald Trump, right, are both pushing Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

If Republicans were able to get rid of it now through a move colloquially known as the “nuclear option,” Johnson warned that Democrats would then use that standard in the future to enact progressive policies while sidelining the Republican Party.

“The Democrats, look, they said what they would do. They would pack the Supreme Court. They would pack Puerto Rico and Washington DC. They would ban guns. They would do all kinds of things that would be very harmful to the country, and the safeguard in the Senate has always been the filibuster,” Johnson said. “But again, it’s not my problem, it’s not something I can even weigh in on.”

The shutdown is in its 31st day after Senate Democrats blocked the Republican Party from advancing its short-term federal funding bill 13 times since September 19.

At current numbers, five more Democratic senators are needed to vote with Republicans to overcome the filibuster.

TRUMP URGES GOP TO ‘END THE STOPMENT’ BY GOING NUCLEAR ON SENATE FILIBUSTER

Senate Majority Leader John Thune holds a copy of a continuing resolution bill as he speaks alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson during a news conference at Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 3, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump, apparently tired of the gridlock, posted late Thursday night: “Now is the time for Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP’ and go for the so-called nuclear option: get rid of the filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!

“Not long ago, Democrats, while in power, fought for three years to get this done, but failed because of Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Never have Democrats fought so hard to get something done because they knew the immense strength that ending the filibuster would give them,” Trump wrote.

“Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should do, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous and country-destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.’ If the Democrats were ever to return to power, which would be easier for them if the Republicans did not use the great force and policies at our disposal by ending the filibuster, the Democrats would exercise their rights, and it would be on the first day they took office, let us do so or not.”

Johnson said he interpreted it as a sign that Trump was expressing frustration with the situation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 3, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

“What you see is an expression of the president’s anger at this situation. He is as angry as I am, and as the American people are, at this madness,” Johnson said. “He desperately wants the government to be reopened so that all of these resources can get to the people who need them so much.”

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Although the Senate Republican Party has already gone nuclear once this year to endorse Trump’s nominees, the likelihood of it doing so again, particularly to end the filibuster, is low.

“(Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s) position on the importance of the legislative filibuster remains unchanged,” Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse said in a statement.