TRUMP SAYS SENATE SHOULD SCRAP FILIBUSTER TO END SHUTDOWN

Trump urges scrapping key vote threshold to end shutdown

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Back from a week abroad, President Donald Trump is calling on the Senate to scrap the filibuster and reopen the government after a monthlong shutdown, breaking with majority Republicans who have long opposed such a move.

Trump said in a post on his social media site Thursday that "THE CHOICE IS CLEAR INITIATE THE 'NUCLEAR OPTION,' GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER." Trump's sudden decision to assert himself into the shutdown debate - bringing the highly charged demand to end the filibuster - is certain to set the Senate on edge. It could spur senators toward their own compromise or send the chamber spiraling toward a new sense of crisis.