House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday expressed support for the Senate filibuster as President Donald Trump supported ending it in order to pass key legislation.
“I understand desperate times call for desperate measures. I also understand that traditionally, we’ve seen that as an important safeguard,” he said in an interview.Â
“As much as I have wanted to blow up the filibuster sometimes, as a House member, when we were not getting what we wanted done in our agenda, I hear my Senate Republican colleagues — some of the most conservative people in Congress — who say it’s an important safeguard,” he added. “It prevents us, it holds us back from the Democrats’ worst impulses.”
The Senate requires 60 votes to pass key legislation. Democrats have previously floated ending the threshold, though Republicans have remained opposed. Trump on Monday asked the Senate to end the rule to end the ongoing shutdown.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.
