Florida Republican Byron Donalds just handed Democrats a massive gift wrapped with a bow.
Donald Trump's conservative ally wants to blow up the Senate rules.
And Byron Donalds made one move that had Republicans looking over their shoulders.
Byron Donalds backs Trump's nuclear option push
Florida Republican Byron Donalds sent Senate Majority Leader John Thune a letter demanding Republicans eliminate the Senate filibuster.
Donalds argued Democrats weaponized the procedural rule to obstruct Donald Trump's conservative agenda.
Donalds wrote to Thune demanding Republicans scrap the 60-vote threshold, arguing Democrats use it to block Trump's conservative agenda.¹
President Trump called for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster after Senate Democrats blocked Republican attempts to reopen the government.
"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 posted on Truth Social.²
https://twitter.com/RepDonaldsPress/status/1984334331901592054
Donalds echoed Trump's demands in his letter to Thune.
The nuclear option allows the Senate majority to override the 60-vote cloture requirement with a simple majority vote.
Both parties used this tactic to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominees.
Senate Democrats under Harry Reid triggered the nuclear option in 2013 to confirm Barack Obama's executive branch and judicial appointees with just 51 votes.³
Republicans under Mitch McConnell extended that in 2017 to include Supreme Court nominees so Neil Gorsuch could be confirmed.⁴
But no party ever eliminated the legislative filibuster for passing regular laws.
Donalds wants to take that unprecedented step and eliminate the legislative filibuster entirely.
Republicans reject demands to nuke the filibuster
Senate Republicans immediately rejected Trump and Donalds' demands.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised after the 2024 election that the legislative filibuster would remain unchanged.
"Leader Thune's position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged," Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse said.⁵
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah posted on social media that he was a "firm no" on getting rid of the filibuster.
"The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate," Curtis wrote. "Power changes hands, but principles shouldn't."⁶
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said he would "absolutely not" favor abolishing the filibuster.
"We all know that the Senate goes back and forth, and it's in our favor when we have the minority," Mullin explained.⁷
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina previously said he would resign from the Senate on the same day if Republicans abolish the filibuster.
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to support Trump's call.
"The filibuster has traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard," Johnson stated. "If the shoe was on the other foot, I don't think our team would like it."⁸
Johnson warned about what Democrats would do without the filibuster blocking them.
"They would pack the Supreme Court, they would make Puerto Rico and D.C. states, they would ban firearms," Johnson said.⁹
Donalds just handed his enemies a weapon they'll use against conservatives
Democrats tried and failed to eliminate the filibuster in January 2022 when they controlled the Senate.
Chuck Schumer wanted to use the nuclear option to ram through voting rights legislation without Republican votes.
But Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema joined all Republicans to block the rules change.¹⁰
Manchin warned he couldn't support "such a perilous course" of changing rules through party-line votes.¹¹
https://twitter.com/Hunter_Eagleman/status/1982115830469894267
Republicans understood what Democrats missed.
The filibuster protects the minority party from the tyranny of the majority.
Senate control has flipped between parties seven times since 2000.
Democrats controlled the Senate from 2021-2023, Republicans from 2015-2021 and 2025-present, Democrats from 2007-2015.
That's why Senator after Senator from both parties opposed the nuclear option before their party took control and they suddenly loved it.
Harry Reid called the filibuster essential before he nuked it in 2013.
Chuck Schumer said in 2025 he regrets going nuclear in 2013 now that he's back in the minority.
Mitch McConnell warned Democrats they'd regret the nuclear option before he extended it in 2017.
The pattern is clear as day.
Power changes hands constantly in Washington, D.C.
Never give your friends a power that your enemies will one day inherit.
Donalds and Trump want Republicans to eliminate the filibuster while they're in the majority.
But Democrats will inevitably take back Senate control.
When that happens, they'll use the precedent Republicans set to ram through their entire radical agenda.
Pack the Supreme Court with leftist activist judges? Simple majority vote.
Make Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. states to guarantee four permanent Democrat Senate seats? Simple majority vote.
Ban AR-15s and confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens? Simple majority vote.
Codify abortion on demand through all nine months? Simple majority vote.
Grant citizenship to 20 million illegal aliens? Simple majority vote.
Republicans fought for two years to block Joe Biden's Build Back Better socialist spending spree.
Without the filibuster, that $5 trillion monstrosity passes easily.
Democrats tried to federalize elections and override every state voter ID law in 2022.
The filibuster stopped them.
Republicans should remember these victories before they hand Democrats the keys to unilateral power.
Donalds argued Republicans have a mandate from the 2024 election to enact conservative reforms.
But mandates don't last forever.
Democrats had a mandate after 2008 and lost the House two years later.
Republicans swept into power in 2010 and lost the Senate by 2021.
Trump's mandate from 2016 didn't stop Democrats from taking the House in 2018.
The pendulum always swings back.
Senate Republicans understand this better than Trump or Donalds.
They lived through years in the minority watching Democrats abuse their majority power.
Thune, Tillis, Mullin, and Curtis know eliminating the filibuster would be political suicide.
They're not making that mistake just because Trump posted about it on Truth Social at midnight.
Republicans need to remember why the filibuster exists.
The Founders designed the Senate as the cooling saucer for the hot tea of the House.
The Senate was supposed to force compromise and deliberation.
The 60-vote threshold ensures major legislation has broad support instead of narrow partisan majorities ramming through radical changes.
That's not a bug, it's a feature.
Donalds claimed the filibuster is "a relic of a bygone era of bipartisanship."
But the need for bipartisanship is exactly why the filibuster matters more than ever.
Washington, D.C. has never been more polarized.
The parties have never been further apart ideologically.
That makes the filibuster more important, not less.
Without the filibuster, every election becomes an existential crisis.
Whichever party wins the presidency and a Senate majority gets two years to fundamentally transform America.
Then the other party takes control and undoes everything before implementing their own radical agenda.
That's not governance, it's chaos.
Republicans spent four years watching Democrats try to weaponize the federal government against Trump.
Now Trump and Donalds want to hand Democrats even more power to abuse.
It makes zero sense.
Senate Republicans are right to reject these demands.
The filibuster frustrates both parties equally.
That's proof it's working as designed.
¹ Frank Kopylov, "Rep. Byron Donalds calls for end to filibuster, says Democrats are blocking reform," The Messenger, October 31, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ CNN Politics, "Analysis: What's a filibuster? And why does Trump want to kill it?," CNN, October 31, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ NBC News, "Trump's push to abolish the Senate filibuster hits immediate Republican resistance," NBC News, October 31, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ WBAL-TV, "What is the 'nuclear option'? President Trump demands GOP end filibuster, Republicans say no," WBAL-TV, October 31, 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ U.S. News & World Report, "Democrats Fail to Go 'Nuclear' on Filibuster After Republicans Blocked Voting Rights," U.S. News, January 19, 2022.
¹¹ Ibid.
