How to Get Rid of the Filibuster: Nuclear Option and Rule Change

Getting rid of the filibuster comes down to one of two routes: formally amending Senate Rule XXII, which requires a two-thirds supermajority to end debate on the rule change itself, or using the “nuclear option,” which sets a new binding precedent by simple majority vote. The nuclear option is the only method that has actually worked in modern practice, and it has been used twice — both times for nominations, never for legislation. Nothing procedurally prevents 51 senators from applying the same mechanism to the legislative filibuster. The obstacle has consistently been political will inside the majority party.

What the Filibuster Actually Is

Under Senate Rule XXII, adopted in 1917 and amended in 1975, ending debate on most legislation requires a cloture vote supported by three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn, or 60 out of 100 in a full Senate.¹ Since the early 1970s, a “dual-tracking” system has let the Senate set filibustered bills aside and move on to other business, so 41 senators can block legislation by simply signaling opposition to cloture. The majority leader then usually declines to call the vote and the bill stalls.² No one has to hold the floor. That “silent” filibuster is what any elimination effort has to dislodge.

Path One: Change the Rule (Two-Thirds Vote)

The straightforward approach is to amend Rule XXII directly. It fails by design. Ending debate on a resolution to change the Senate’s standing rules requires a two-thirds vote of members present and voting, which means opponents of reform can filibuster the reform itself.³ No serious effort to end the legislative filibuster has ever succeeded through this route.

Path Two: The Nuclear Option (Simple Majority)

The nuclear option, formally called “reform by ruling,” creates a new Senate precedent through a chain of procedural votes that each require only a simple majority.³ It runs in three steps:

A senator raises a point of order asserting that a Senate rule should be interpreted differently, for example, that cloture on legislation requires only a majority vote.
The presiding officer rules on the point of order, typically following the parliamentarian’s advice that existing precedent says otherwise.
A senator appeals that ruling, and the full Senate votes. If a simple majority votes to overturn the chair, the opposite of the chair’s ruling becomes the new binding precedent.

The Senate parliamentarian advises but does not decide. The presiding officer rules, and the full Senate can override that ruling with 51 votes.⁴ The text of Rule XXII never gets touched, but the way the rule operates changes permanently.

When It Has Been Used

The nuclear option has been deployed twice, both times for nominations, never for legislation.

On November 21, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid raised a point of order that cloture on all nominations other than Supreme Court nominations should require only a majority vote. The chair ruled against him, Reid appealed, and the Senate voted 52–48 to overturn the ruling, with all Republicans and three Democrats opposed.⁵ Executive branch nominees and lower federal judges could be confirmed with 51 votes from then on.

On April 6, 2017, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used the same procedure to extend the simple-majority rule to Supreme Court nominations after Democrats filibustered Neil Gorsuch. The Senate voted along party lines, 52–48, to set the new precedent.⁶⁷

Both times, the sequence was identical: point of order, adverse ruling, appeal, simple-majority override. The 60-vote requirement for legislation was left intact. Nothing about the mechanism itself limits it to nominations; the Senate has simply chosen not to extend it.

What Already Bypasses the Filibuster

The legislative filibuster does not cover everything. Since 1969, more than 160 exceptions to the supermajority requirement have been created for specific categories of Senate business.² The biggest is budget reconciliation, created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which lets the Senate pass legislation affecting spending, revenues, or the debt limit with a simple majority and a 20-hour debate cap.⁸ Reconciliation is limited by the Byrd Rule, which bars provisions that don’t directly change spending or revenue, and it can’t be used for most non-budget policy. So it isn’t a substitute for ending the filibuster, but it is why bills like the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act passed with 51 votes.⁹

Halfway Measures That Also Need Only 51 Votes

Full elimination isn’t the only option on the table. Any of the following reforms could be enacted by the same precedent-setting mechanism as the nuclear option, meaning they too require only a simple majority.³

A talking filibuster would end the silent version by forcing objecting senators to hold the floor. In Senator Jeff Merkley’s 2012 proposal, if cloture failed to reach 60 but got a simple majority, the Senate would enter extended debate; if no minority senator rose to speak, the chair would end debate and a majority cloture vote would follow.¹⁰
Step-down cloture, proposed by Senators Tom Harkin and Joe Lieberman in 1995, would lower the cloture threshold on successive votes, from 60 to 57 to 54 to 51, so a persistent majority eventually prevails.¹¹
Shifting the burden would flip the arithmetic: instead of the majority producing 60 votes to end debate, the minority would have to produce 41 to keep it going, putting the logistical work on the blocking side.¹¹
Targeted carve-outs would exempt specific categories of legislation, such as voting rights bills, from the 60-vote rule, mirroring how reconciliation already works for budget bills.¹¹

Why It Hasn’t Happened for Legislation

The procedure exists. The votes don’t. President Trump has publicly called for elimination on multiple occasions, starting during the 43-day government shutdown in October and November 2025¹² and continuing through 2026 as the SAVE America Act — a House-passed voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill — stalled at the 60-vote threshold.¹³ Trump labeled any Republican who wouldn’t end the filibuster a “fool.”¹⁴

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has consistently said the votes aren’t there. “We don’t have 51 votes for that in the United States Senate,” Thune said, adding that even a shift to a talking filibuster lacked sufficient support in his caucus.¹³ Republican senators Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul have been firm opponents; Josh Hawley, Tommy Tuberville, and Jim Banks have voiced support for Trump’s position.¹⁵

Senator Mike Lee floated a talking-filibuster strategy in early 2026 that would force Democrats to hold the floor to block the SAVE America Act without formally going nuclear. Leadership pushed back, questioning whether it would eat weeks of floor time and open the door to unlimited minority amendments.¹⁶ In April 2026, an attempt to attach the bill to a reconciliation vehicle failed 48–50, with Murkowski, McConnell, Collins, and Tillis joining all Democrats.¹⁷

The Bottom Line

Eliminating or significantly weakening the legislative filibuster requires 51 senators willing to cast a single procedural vote. The mechanism has been used successfully twice, so the “how” is settled. The barrier is that enough senators in the majority have to decide the immediate legislative payoff outweighs losing minority-party protection the next time control flips. As of mid-2026, that calculation has not tipped, and the 60-vote threshold for legislation stands.

1
U.S. Senate. About Filibusters and Cloture – Historical Overview
2
Brennan Center for Justice. The Filibuster, Explained
3
Brookings Institution. What Is the Senate Filibuster, and What Would It Take To Eliminate It
4
R Street Institute. Parliamentarians Advise, Senators Decide
5
Washington Post. Senate Poised To Limit Filibusters in Party-Line Vote
6
New York Times. Senate Confirms Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court
7
NPR. Senate Pulls Nuclear Trigger To Ease Gorsuch Confirmation
8
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Introduction to Budget Reconciliation
9
Bipartisan Policy Center. Budget Reconciliation Simplified
10
Sen. Jeff Merkley. Talking Filibuster Reform Proposal
11
Brennan Center for Justice. Fixing the Senate Filibuster
12
Federal News Network. Trump Says Senate Should Scrap the Filibuster To End the Shutdown
13
NPR. Senate Filibuster and the SAVE America Act
14
NPR. Trump Senate Friction
15
The Hill. GOP Filibuster Trump Pressure
16
Politico. Senate Filibuster GOP SAVE Act
17
Democracy Docket. Senate Rejects Bid To Revive SAVE America Act