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Good Filibuster Hunting

John Thune’s real problem isn’t Democrats or the Trump White House, but a Republican crusade to turn the filibuster into a weapon which could grind the Senate to a halt.

John Thune
At the center of it all is Thune, who will bear the onus of any rule change and now faces pressure from a large swath of the conservative movement. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
February 4, 2026

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune already had the toughest job in Washington—navigating the 52 independent agendas of the senators in his conference while trying to protect both his party’s majority and his institution’s legitimacy in the face of an unpopular and vengeful president. But now he’s facing perhaps his biggest political headache over an issue that he hoped had died over the holidays. That’s right, the filibuster is once again under threat.