(MENAFN) US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday issued a warning against employing the “nuclear option” as a means to reopen the government, even as President Donald Trump urged Republicans to abolish the Senate filibuster.

“We haven’t spoken with (the president) since he returned (from Asia),” Johnson informed reporters during a press briefing.

“What you’re seeing is an expression of the president’s anger at the situation. He is as angry, as I am and the American people are, about this madness, and he just desperately wants the government to be reopened.”

The filibuster serves as a mechanism that enables a small faction of senators to obstruct action by the majority. This procedure permits a minority of 41 senators to halt a vote on most legislative matters.

Johnson noted that the matter ultimately rests with senators to resolve, but he emphasized that the filibuster in the upper chamber has “traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard.”

“If the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t think our team would like it,” he remarked, cautioning that Democrats could “pack the Supreme Court, make Puerto Rico and D.C. states ban firearms and do all sorts of things that would be very harmful for the country.”

“And the safeguard in the Senate has always been a filibuster,” Johnson added.

“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” Trump wrote Thursday on his Truth Social platform.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated last week that it would be a “bad idea” to eliminate the rule in order to end the government shutdown.

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