Sen. Dick Durbin shot down President Trump’s idea to change the filibuster rules in the Senate, saying it would be the “end to the Senate.”
"That would be the end of the Senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our Founding Fathers. We have to acknowledge our respect for the minority, and that is what the Senate tries to do in its composition and procedure," the Illinois Democrat told ABC's George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump told Senate Republicans to use the so-called “nuclear option,” which would change rules to allow legislation to pass with a simple majority instead of 60 votes.
Senate Republicans currently hold a 51-49 edge.
"Let's get this done on a bipartisan basis," Durbin said. "We've produced a bipartisan approach to many of these issues. If the president and the leaders in Congress will sit down with us, we can resolve this quickly."
The reason why the nuclear option doesn’t need to be on the table right now is because bipartisan talks are currently ongoing as the Senate tries to agree to a stopgap spending bill to resume funding of the federal government, Durbin said.
“There are bipartisan conversations going on right now. I know that Sen. Schumer has met with the leaders of those efforts, Democrats, and Republicans, who are in good faith trying to find common ground and put this behind us," Durbin said. "But at the end of the day, the president needs to step up and lead in this situation."
