Trump calls on Senate to eliminate filibuster, open government tonight, pass entire Republican agenda

President Donald Trump convened a breakfast at the White House with Republican senators on Wednesday morning, urging them to eliminate the filibuster, get government back open by Wednesday night, and pass the entire GOP agenda. This would include required voter ID to make sure only citizens can vote and other election reform measures.

Trump has been pushing for the Senate GOP to do this for days as the government shutdown presses on, becoming the longest government shutdown in history. Democrats have been refusing to pass a continuing budget resolution, demanding that Republicans include provisions to extend tax subsidies for those on Obamacare. 

He told senators that the shutdown played badly during Tuesday night's elections, which saw Democrat victories across the map. New York City elected a socialist to run the financial capital of the world, while New Jersey and Virginia both chose Democratic women to lead their states.

The Democrats, Trump said, have no intention of opening the government at any point and could very well continue to keep it closed for months or even years. They are "kamikaze pilots," he said.

"I think these guys are kamikaze, they'll take down the country if they have to," Trump said.

Trump's idea is for Republicans to "do what they have to do and terminate the filibuster." He said, "We should get out, we should do our own bills. We should start tonight, with 'the country's open, congratulations.' Then we should pass voter ID, we should pass no mail-in voting, we should pass all the things we want to pass to make our elections fair and safe, because California's a disaster, many of the states are disasters."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been opposed to terminating the filibuster over concerns of how the opposition will use that should they regain power in a year during the 2026 midterms. Trump's answer is that if the GOP doesn't eliminate it now and get their agenda passed, the Democrats could win in 2026 handily through their refusal to secure election integrity, end the filibuster themselves, and pass their entire agenda, which would prevent the GOP from taking power ever again.

The ACA subsidies the Dems want to extend were part of Biden's 2021 Covid relief package in the American Rescue Plan Act. They were extended by the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 through 2025. Income caps for eligibility were eliminated and about 14 million people signed up for the ACA because of these subsidies.

Nearly two dozen Democrat-led states have refused to reveal to the federal government how many of their illegal immigrant residents are partaking in free or partially subsidized taxpayer-funded health care.

Democrats have demanded that this funding continue before they will sign a bill allowing military personnel, air traffic controllers, and other federal workers to get their paychecks. The stoppage has also impacted welfare recipients and those on federal food aid, which is about a $9 billion per month cost.