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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made waves on Wednesday by doubling down on demanding Senate Republicans abolish the filibuster to speed up President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Trump wants Senate Republicans to gut the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote threshold that applies to most bills in the upper chamber, and given the nature of the thin majorities that either party has commanded in recent years, that means legislation typically has to be bipartisan to advance. While some Republicans argue this rule holds back any unwanted, radical changes from being implemented by Democrats, others argue this rule prevents actual needed reforms their own party is trying to implement.
“Knowing the Democrats from past history, they’ll try to stage another shutdown before the midterms to cause maximum damage. It worked for them really this time, they feel, because they did well in those elections, those special elections,” Pod Force One podcast host Miranda Devine said. The host then said that getting rid of the filibuster seems to be the only way to avoid that scenario, asking if Trump is still determined to get Senate Republicans on board.
“Absolutely. He’s in total agreement that we need to let go of the filibuster. It’s not serving the purpose that it originally intended to serve anymore,” Leavitt said. “It’s really a moot point, and he wants to see it gone so that he can have the most productive three years of any president ever.”
TOP DEMOCRAT CHANGES HIS TUNE ON ELIMINATING FILIBUSTER UNDER TRUMP COMPARED TO BIDEN
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt argued that Senate Republicans must get in line and abolish the Senate filibuster rule so that President Donald Trump can implement his agenda. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
She proceeded to tout that while some of his policies have already passed, some of his biggest election promises can be fulfilled if the filibuster is abolished.
“He’s already been so productive in his first term. He ushered through the largest middle class tax cut in just 6 months, which is amazing. There’s so much more work to do. Election integrity, voter ID, getting rid of universal mail-in ballots. All of that can be done if Congress works together and gets rid of the filibuster,” she said.
Rather than merely Democratic opposition, Leavitt argued that it Senate Republicans must fall in line and support the president’s agenda.
“So, the president is definitely talking a lot about that both publicly and privately. I know he’s expressed his opinion on that to leaders in the Senate who may agree or disagree. We’ll have to see how it shakes out, but there’s so much that can be accomplished, and we must take advantage of having the most productive president in the Oval Office. You know, Republicans need to get off their butts and move and that’s what the president wants to see them do and that’s what the American people are expecting.”
When asked how this would likely shake out, Leavitt offered an optimistic take.
Since his campaign announcement in 2015, President Trump has touted his wish not just to preside as a Republican president, but to reform the party and political system itself. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
“I’m not a betting woman. I’m not a gambler, but I would say, don’t bet against President Trump.” she said. “I mean, there’s been many challenges he’s faced where people think he couldn’t get the votes on topics that he did in fact get the votes. Look at the one big, beautiful bill, right? Everybody in Washington doubted his ability to get that done by the 4th of July, and he did it. And he’s unequivocally the leader of the Republican Party. Voters understand that and voters want to see the Trump agenda, the America first agenda implemented. And the best way to do that is to get rid of this nonsense rule that really has no impact on the Senate anymore.”
A Senate GOP aide spoke about Leavitt’s interview in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“As Thune and many others in the conference have repeatedly said, the votes to eliminate the filibuster do not exist in the Senate Republican Conference. They have also been clear that the filibuster provides an incredibly important firewall that protects the American people from all of the extreme, hyper-partisan policies Democrats would pursue, and Republicans don’t want to do their dirty work for them by eliminating this tool,” a Senate GOP aide wrote. “Sinema and Manchin prevented Dems from eliminating it when they were in power, and it’s pretty common knowledge that there were others in the conference who voted the way they did because they knew it wouldn’t be abolished. So with that in mind, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Dems would have the votes to do it in a future majority, which is why they’d love for us to do it for them.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Republican leadership following a policy luncheon in Washington, D.C. on October 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Fox News’ Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.