New Senate Majority Leader Thune pledges to preserve filibuster

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters following a closed-door session, at the Capitol in Washington on Dec. 17. J. Scott Applewhite — AP

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By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — New Senate Majority Leader John Thune is kicking off the new session with a promise to preserve the filibuster, saying in his first floor speech as leader that his priority will be to “ensure the Senate stays the Senate.”

Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans are taking power on Friday a little more than two weeks before Donald Trump will be inaugurated, cementing a firm GOP hold on Washington. And Thune will have to navigate his new responsibilities along with the new president, who has made clear he expects allegiance from Congress — and has previously called for eliminating the filibuster.

Opening up the two-year Senate session Friday after new and returning senators were sworn in, Thune said the legislative tactic that allows senators to delay consideration of a measure and require 60 votes for passage has “perhaps the greatest impact in preserving the Founders’ vision of the Senate.”

“There are a lot of people out there who would like to see the Senate turn into a copy of the House of Representatives,” Thune said. “And that is not what our founders intended or what our country needs.”

Senate Republicans have long maintained that the filibuster remain in place despite Trump’s pleas to eliminate it and speed his agenda during the first half of his first term, when Republicans also had control of the White House and Congress. Many Democrats wanted to eliminate the filibuster in the early days of President Joe Biden’s term, but were stymied by moderates in the Senate Democratic caucus who said it would upend the Senate’s deliberative role. Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., has called it “the holy grail of democracy.”

While Republicans aren’t ready to eliminate the filibuster, which will make it harder to win some votes in the new 53-47 Senate, they are preparing to try and quickly pass much Trump’s agenda through a legislative mechanism that circumvents it. Like Democrats during Biden’s term, they are planning to use a process called budget reconciliation that would allow them to approve bills on party-line votes, with a simple majority. Early priorities will be border security and reviving tax cuts from Trump’s first term.

The Senate will also have to approve Trump’s Cabinet nominees, some of whom have already faced skepticism from Republican senators, once he is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Hearings are expected to begin before then.