Fetterman supports GOP ‘nuking’ filibuster to end shutdown

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) told reporters Tuesday that he would support Republicans using the so-called nuclear option to override the Senate filibuster to pass a bill to reopen the government.

Fetterman said the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is running out of money and people “need to eat” as the government shutdown dragged into its 21st day.

“There are no winners here. It’s not getting better every day here. People are going to start to get really hungry, and I’ve been fully, fully committed to fund SNAP, open up the government,” he said, before noting U.S. Capitol Police officers aren’t getting paid during the shutdown.

“This is just bad political theater. Open it up,” he said.

Asked if he would support Republicans “nuking” the filibuster to let a House-passed funding measure pass the Senate with a simple-majority vote, Fetterman replied affirmatively.

“Carve it out for that, absolutely,” he said of a proposal to create a carve-out in the 60-vote threshold for passing legislation through the Senate to allow the government to reopen.

“We ran on that. We ran on killing the filibuster, and now we love it. Carve it out so we can move on. 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,” he said. “I don’t want to hear any Democrat clutching their pearls about the filibuster. We all ran on it.”

The overwhelming majority of the Senate Democratic caucus supported carving out the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation in January 2022, but the proposed rules change failed after then-Democratic centrist Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — both of whom later left the party and became independents — voted with Republicans to oppose it.