Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Thursday she understands President Donald Trump’s frustration over the ongoing government shutdown but reaffirmed her opposition to ending the Senate filibuster.
Ernst warned that such a move would damage the institution and open the door to sweeping Democrat policies in the future.
Appearing on Newsmax’s “National Report,” the Iowa Republican praised Trump’s leadership but said scrapping the longstanding Senate rule would be a mistake.
“God bless our president, because he is so frustrated over this situation,” Ernst said. “But we have to remember, the filibuster is there for a reason.”
Trump has urged Senate GOP leaders to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” — eliminating the 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation — as a way to pass a Republican-backed short-term spending bill and reopen the government. Doing so would allow the GOP’s narrow majority to approve a funding measure with a simple majority vote, bypassing Democrat opposition.
Ernst, however, cautioned that removing the filibuster could backfire if Democrats regain full control of Washington.
“If Kamala Harris and Democrats had controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate, we would have seen the Green New Deal, we would have seen a packed Supreme Court. We would see D.C. statehood, Puerto Rico statehood — all of these awful things. We would have socialized medicine across the United States,” she said.
The senator stressed that maintaining the 60-vote rule preserves bipartisanship and prevents radical swings in policy depending on which party holds power.
“We want to keep the filibuster in place,” Ernst said. “I don’t know that the Democrats will actually do this — there is no guarantee. But I certainly don’t want to be the Republican Party that broke the institution of the Senate.”
The Senate filibuster has long been a defining feature of the upper chamber, designed to encourage debate and foster compromise. While both parties have carved out limited exceptions to the rule in recent years — including for judicial nominations — most legislation still requires 60 votes to advance.
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