Trump: Do away with filibuster to end shutdown

Zachary Schermele, Rebecca Morin, Joey Garrison, Bart Jansen and Zac Anderson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – As the shutdown drags on, President Donald Trump is urging Senate Republicans to go around Democrats to break an impasse with growing ramifications.

Millions of Americans were poised to lose federal food assistance, but two federal judges on Oct. 31 said the government must continue providing the benefits.

Trump called for an end to the Senate’s filibuster rule in an Oct. 30 social media post, saying it’s time to deploy the “nuclear option.” The filibuster requires 60 votes to pass most Senate legislation, instead of a simple 51-vote majority. That has allowed Democrats to block a GOP government funding bill as they demand any legislation to reopen the government include an extension of federal health care subsidies.

“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option – Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” Trump wrote.

Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his chief deputy, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, said the lawmakers continue to support the filibuster.

“Leader Thune’s position on the

importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” Thune’s office said in a statement.

Barrasso spokeswoman Kate Noyes also said the senator’s “support of the filibuster is unchanged.”

The ongoing support for the filibuster is a rare rebuke to Trump from GOP congressional leaders, who have argued the rule is important to prevent Democrats from passing legislation without GOP support if they regain the majority.

The shutdown has lasted for 31 days, and though the consequences are becoming more drastic by the day, the lights still aren’t likely to turn back on over the weekend.

Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to take votes on any bills until after the weekend, when the shutdown is set to become the longest of its kind in U.S. history. For weeks, members of Congress have been locked in a stalemate over spending. While there were indications in recent days that rank-and-file lawmakers may be getting closer to a compromise, the details of a potential offramp remain unclear.

Flight disruptions are mounting, too, to the point that even senators had trouble leaving the nation’s capital Oct. 30 amid a ground stop at a regional airport. On the same day, Vice President JD Vance said worries were omnipresent among a group of airline industry leaders he convened at the White House.

“Everybody here is very worried that we’re going to see more delays, more stresses on the people who are actually making the aviation system run,” he said. “Stop this craziness and open the government.”

A federal judge in Rhode Island said he would order the Trump administration to continue providing SNAP food benefits despite the government shutdown.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for 42 million low-income Americans were set to run out Nov. 1. But the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the National Council of Nonprofits and a number of other nonprofits and mayors filed a federal lawsuit to keep benefits flowing.

Justice Department lawyer Jason Altabet has said the U.S. Department of Agriculture lacks the authority to spend more beyond Nov.1unless Congress approves a spending bill to reopen the government.

SNAP distributes up to $9 billion per month for 42 million people in low-income families to buy groceries. The department has $5.25 billion in a contingency fund the states want the department to tap.

But Altabet said officials were “legitimately scared” that antiquated technology in some states would be unable to process partial payments.

“The agency thinks it would be catastrophic,” he said. U.S. District Judge John McConnell said at a hearing Oct. 31 he would block the administration from suspending benefits during the shutdown.

“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur, if it hasn’t already occurred, in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family,” McConnell said during a virtual hearing.

In a brief written order, McConnell told the Department of Agriculture to use contingency funds to keep providing benefits. He asked the government to report by noon Nov. 3 about the status of the distribution.

A second federal judge in Boston ruled that the government is “required” to continue providing SNAP benefits, but that she would give officials until Nov. 3 to decide how to do so.

U.S. Judge Indira Talwani ruled the government has the option to provide reduced benefits with contingency funds or shift other discretionary funds to cover the shortfall.

Like McConnell, Talwani asked the government to notify her by Nov. 3 whether the administration will authorize reduced benefits or shift other funding to meet the program’s needs. She kept any order to the government “under advisement” until she gets that reply.

The Pentagon and Office of Management and Budget confirmed to USA TODAY on Oct. 31 that members of the military would receive the pay they were due that day.

To cover $5.3 billion in military pay, the OMB said officials have pulled money from three different financial accounts: $2.5 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill account, $1.4 billion from a Pentagon procurement account and $1.4 billion from a Research & Development account.

The Pentagon also confirmed military members would be paid.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Oct. 26 that active duty troops will start going without pay by Nov. 15 if the shutdown continues.

Democrats have insisted on including an extension of health insurance subsidies in any legislation to reopen the government. The cost of not doing so could soon hit home for many Americans.

Open enrollment for all Affordable Care Act health plans began Nov. 1.

Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY; Reuters