Trump Doesn't Have The Votes For Senate Nuclear Option Wall Money

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Trump wants Mitch McConnell to use the nuclear option to kill the filibuster to get his wall money, but Republicans don’t have the votes in the Senate to kill the filibuster.

Trump tweeted:

Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018

Sarah Sanders has also been repeating the call to nuke the filibuster all morning:

WH talking point outlined by Sarah Sanders repeatedly this morning: POTUS wants McConnell to end the filibuster in order to pass a CR with wall funding.

— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) December 21, 2018

There is just one big problem, Republicans don’t have the votes needed to kill the filibuster:

McConnell, today, holds 51 seats. The executing the nuclear option requires 51 votes, and McConnell if he was inclined (& he's not) to execute the nuclear option, would not get votes of all 51 of his conference. =>> https://t.co/R1NqelXyNE

— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) December 21, 2018

Trump is going to blame Mitch McConnell and the Democrats for his shutdown when the truth is that what the president is demanding is impossible. There hasn’t been any whipping of the Senate Republican majority on getting rid of the filibuster in a while, but there are roughly 20 senators who support getting rid of the filibuster, maybe. Mitch McConnell is not one of those senators.

Donald Trump is already trying to pass the blame for the shutdown that he created and said that he would be proud of off on to Mitch McConnell and Senate Democrats.

Even if McConnell nukes the filibuster, the votes aren’t there for the wall money.

Trump has painted himself into a corner. 750,000 workers are about to lose their paychecks, and it is all Trump’s fault. The nuclear option isn’t happening, but Donald Trump’s Christmas government shutdown looks like it is.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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