After completing his highly successful trade and diplomacy tour to the Indo-Pacific region, where he outmaneuvered and cornered China in so many areas, President Trump then wrote a lengthy Truth Social note advocating ending the government shutdown with what has been called the “nuclear option.” Writing “Now is the time for Republicans to play their “TRUMP CARD” and go for what is called the nuclear option – Out with the Filibuster, and out with it, NOW!”
I can certainly understand Mr. Trump’s frustration with the radical Democratic Party driven by the Mamdani-AOC-Bernie Sanders socialist wing.
But I don’t think ending the filibuster is a good idea. Speaking as someone who strongly supports the president’s agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, energy dominance, reciprocal free trade, closing the border, and so on, I think ending the filibuster would do major damage to the pro-growth policies that were miraculously passed under “one big, beautiful” bill.
Mr. Trump himself admits in his Truth Social post that Democrats fought hard to end the filibuster but failed. He even notes that ending the filibuster would at some point allow Democrats to occupy the Supreme Court and make Washington DC and Puerto Rico new states, allowing them to capture four Senate seats and many seats in the House of Representatives and electoral votes from those ultra-liberal places.
The Committee to Unleash Prosperity adds to the list of things it would have passed without the filibuster: national voter ID ban, Green New Deal, card check, $15 minimum wage, cap and trade national energy tax, fully socialized medicine, and the PRO Act forced unionization.
Let’s not go there. I have a much better idea: presidential seizure.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller joins ‘Kudlow’ to discuss the latest happenings at the Federal Reserve.
Budget Director Russ Vought is ready to pull the trigger on nonessential workers who will remain nonessential forever. I call it DOGE 2.0. In short, keep the non-essential, non-essential; that’s existential.
And all that Democratic spending items that Joe Biden lined up for his re-election last year, that stuff was so bad that waste, fraud and abuse even get a bad name. I’ll be polite: none of them are essential. Because the government currently lacks funding, the president has the authority to seize unauthorized personnel and programs. While OMB Director Russ Vought has his gun locked and loaded, he is stopped by a lower court judge who has ordered the government to take these actions.
But all of that is on appeal and will likely be overturned. Undoubtedly, President Trump, as head of the executive branch, has the inherent constitutional power to seize during this period.
If Democrats return to power without a filibuster rule to keep them in check, they will spend, tax and regulate a trillion dollars worth of programs that will destroy the economy.
On the other hand, if President Trump exercises his executive power to seize non-essentials, he will significantly reduce the size and scope of the federal government, while reducing deficits and debt along the way.
In that scenario, economic prosperity will flourish almost more than anyone could ever imagine.
