Senate GOP Flirts With the Nuclear Option to End the Shutdown

The 60-vote firewall is flickering—and power is learning to live without it.

The story broke overnight: Senate Republicans, with quiet backing from the White House, are weighing the nuclear option—ending the filibuster—to ram through a funding bill and reopen the government.

Senators Josh Hawley and Rick Scott have gone public. Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t denied it. For now, they call it procedural reform. But every staffer in the building knows what it really is: a test of how far a majority can bend the rules before they break.

One reporter called it a “once-in-a-generation power move.” It’s not once-in-a-generation anymore. It’s phase two of a new normal.

The filibuster talk isn’t about ending a shutdown. It’s the live test of whether one party can rule by command.

The real story is what happens if they succeed— and that’s where today’s Ledger forecast begins.