Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Opposed to the “Nuclear Option” Trump Suggests

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Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was opposed to revising the filibuster rule so that only a simple majority – fifty-one votes – would be necessary to pass legislation, such as the bill that’s responsible for the current government shutdown.  The current rule requires sixty votes to break a filibuster.

President Trump had called for a change in the rule earlier in the day on Twitter.  “If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51%…and vote on…long term budget…” the president wrote.

A spokesman for McConnell said later in the day, the “Republican Conference opposes changing the rules on legislation.”

The issue has come up because the spending bill that would have funded the government until February 16 failed to garner enough votes to pass out of the Senate.  The bill failed mainly along party lines, although a handful of Republicans did vote against the bill.  A second vote on the bill is scheduled for 1 a.m. Monday morning.

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