WATCH: Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent NUKES Dems Over Shutdown, Puts Republicans On Notice Demanding Filibuster Termination Ahead of New Jan 30 Government Funding Deadline
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent smoked the Democrats in a Saturday morning appearance on Meet the Press with far-left MSNBC host Kirsten Welker, furthering his and President Trump’s demands that Republicans terminate the filibuster.
With the filibuster in place, all legislation requires 60 votes to invoke cloture and move to a simple majority vote. Despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate, and the White House, they cannot pass any legislation without at least seven of the radical Democrats voting in favor.
Senate Republicans, however, have refused to do so. Majority Leader John Thune has, in part, led the opposition to Trump in this regard, declaring that he supports the filibuster and it’s “just not happening,” The Gateway Pundit reported.
When asked about Thune’s remarks, Bessent said his editorial was meant to put Senate Republicans “on notice” that the Democrats will hold the country hostage again in an attempt to stop Trump.
“The Democrats haven’t been able to stop President Trump in the courts, they haven’t been able to stop him in the media, so they had to harm the American people,” he said, pointing to the 1.5% GDP hit and the $11 billion their antics cost the country.
“They don’t care,” he said. “You should ask Senator Klobuchar whether she will adhere to the filibuster and whether she will close the government,” a nod to Klobuchar leading the charge to abolish the filibuster in 2021 and 2022. They’ve already tried to terminate the filibuster, and they’re going to try again, leaving Republicans powerless next time Democrats have the power.
WATCH:
Welker: In the past, Leader Thune has said that it’s “just not happening.” There aren’t the votes. Mr. Secretary, do you believe that you have enough votes, that the President has enough votes to get rid of the filibuster?
Bessent: We will see come January 30, because that’s the point of my editorial, is to put the Senate on notice that the Democrats kept the government shut down, and Ezra Klein in the New York Times took the mask off. He said, this wasn’t about health care; this was about stopping totalitarianism. The Democrats haven’t been able to stop President Trump in the courts, they haven’t been able to stop him in the media, so they had to harm the American people— 1.5% hit to GDP, $11 billion permanent hit. They don’t care.
So, I believe that Senate Democrats, if the— if Senate Democrats close the government again, that Senate Republicans should immediately abrogate the filibuster. You should ask Senator Klobuchar whether she will adhere to the filibuster and whether she will close the government.
Welker: Yes or no, though, do you acknowledge at this point you don’t have the votes right now to do that?
Bessent: We will see, can have them on January [30] when we see this bad democratic behavior.
This comes after Bessent published an op-ed in the Washington Post this morning, titled “It’s time to end the filibuster,” where he makes the case for terminating the filibuster.
Trump has repeatedly called on the GOP to wield their power since last month, arguing that the Democrats have already tried and will try again when they’re back in power.
amid the Senate Democrats’ historic government shutdown, Trump called for Republican Senators to terminate filibuster to reopen the government and pass election integrity laws with voter ID and one-day voting, border security, tax cuts, and “so many things” that the Democrats will never vote for.
“The way to do it for the Republicans is to terminate the filibuster,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t have been in favor of that a long time ago, but you know, the Democrats are going to do that, and most of you will admit the Democrats are going to do that. So why aren’t we doing it? And I think only a foolish person would be against that, especially when you realize that these are crazed people.”
Trump then pulled out a list of “things that we’d pass if we terminated the filibuster,” including voter ID requirements, banning mail-in voting, cashless bail reform, ending transgender insanity in women’s sports, and ending taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens.
Bessent notes that, “By wielding the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote Senate supermajority to pass legislation, Democrats inflicted tremendous harm on the nation, including: $11 billion in permanent economic damage; an estimated 1.5 percentage points in lost GDP growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025; 9,500 canceled flights; and the paychecks of 1.4 million federal workers held for ransom by the left’s demands.”
He further condemned the extraconstitutional Senate tool as a “historical accident that has evolved into a standing veto for the minority and a license for paralysis,” which he says “no longer serves the country.”
The Democrats recognize, he writes, that “the minority party can abuse the filibuster to the point of rendering the Senate almost useless as a deliberative body.”
“Some Republicans hesitate to end the filibuster out of fear that Democrats will one day use that same power against them. But Democrats will use that power against them whether Republicans end the filibuster or not. GOP senators who defend the filibuster are ignoring basic game theory. As the classic prisoner’s dilemma shows us, in a repeated game, the player who always cooperates while the opponent who always betrays is doomed to lose.”
Bessent gives the Republicans until January 30 when government funding lapses to decide whether they are going to take the heavily justified measure to prevent Democrats from weaponizing and abusing the “procedural fossil.”
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