Some lawmakers call for ‘nuclear option’ to end government shutdown. What is it?

As the government shutdown drags on, a small group of lawmakers is embracing the “nuclear option.”

In recent days, several Republicans and one Democrat have spoken out in favor of the controversial legislative maneuver, which could help break the deadlock on Capitol Hill. However, congressional leaders remain opposed to the idea.

The so-called nuclear option entails overriding the Senate filibuster — a long-standing procedural tactic — which allows any senator to delay or block a vote by extending the window of debate indefinitely.

Under current Senate rules, a 60-vote supermajority is needed to invoke cloture and end debate. If the filibuster were eliminated — which could be done by a simple majority vote — just 51 senators would be sufficient to advance legislation, paving the way for the narrow GOP majority to pass a spending bill.

The nuclear option has already been used several times in the past, allowing a simple majority to advance nominations. But, the filibuster remains in place for passing legislation.

The option was first employed in 2013 by Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, to confirm lower court judicial nominees. Then, in 2017, Senate Republicans used the last resort method to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Calls for the nuclear option

“I think Republicans ought to take a long, hard look at the 60 vote threshold, because I think we’re just being beholden to a broken system right now,” Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, told reporters on Oct. 20.

“At a minimum, why don’t we take a look at it for (continuing resolutions),” he added. “Why shouldn’t we have a 50-vote threshold to be able to fund the government if the majority of the people want to do that.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — a Georgia Republican and frequent critic of House GOP leadership — was less equivocal.

“As I have been saying for weeks now, Republicans in the Senate can reopen the government, without Democrats, by using the nuclear option,” Greene wrote on X on Oct. 21. “All of this political drama would end if Republicans would use the power we have. Democrats will do it when they regain power. Like it or not.”

Sen. Susan Collins, a long-serving Maine Republican, said she is wary of nuking the filibuster, but didn’t write it off entirely.

“I am a strong supporter of the filibuster, but obviously I’ll look at any plan that anyone puts out in order to reopen the government,” she told NOTUS, a nonprofit news outlet, on Oct. 20.

Additionally, at least one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, signaled his desire to do away with the filibuster.

Speaking to reporters on Oct. 21, he said he would support a carve-out in the filibuster to allow legislation to fund the government to move forward with a simple majority.

“Carve it out so we can move on,” Fetterman said, according to The Hill. “I support it because it makes it more difficult to shut the government down in the future, and that’s where it’s entirely appropriate … I don’t want to hear any Democrat clutching their pearls about the filibuster. We all ran on it.”

In 2022, Senate Democrats made a high-profile attempt to override the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation, though it ultimately failed due to opposition from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

Pushback from leadership

However, other lawmakers, including GOP leadership, have dismissed attempts to override the legislative tactic, pointing to concerns that it could come back to hurt them in the long-run.

“There’s always a lot of swirl out there, as you know, from social media, et cetera, but no, I have not had that conversation,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters in early October when asked about ending the filibuster, according to Politico.

House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled the move would be risky.

“Is it possible? Yes,” he said, according to the outlet. “Is it wise? A lot of people would tell you it’s not. I mean, on the Republican side, I would be deeply concerned if the Democrats had a bare majority in the Senate right now.”