Senate GOP leaders in a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump are rejecting his demand to end the filibuster so they can bypass Democrats and pass Republican legislation to reopen the government.

Trump called on GOP senators to ditch the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, in an Oct. 30 social media post.

"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.

Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, told USA TODAY the lawmakers are unmoved.

“Leader Thune’s position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” said Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse.

Barrasso spokeswoman Kate Noyes also said the senator’s “support of the filibuster is unchanged.”

While Trump's comments could ramp up pressure on GOP senators to reconsider their support for the filibuster, Thune pointed to the constraints the rule places on Democrats when they're in the majority in arguing earlier this month for it to continue.

Thune said the filibuster "makes the Senate the Senate" and prevents a "whole lot of bad things by the other side."

"The 60-vote threshold has protected this country," Thune said.

Thune's support for the filibuster reflects the position of other GOP senators.

“I will never support ending the filibuster, and I think Republicans have made that very clear,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, told the Wall Street Journal, which also quoted Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, as against the idea.

“It’s a nonstarter,” Cornyn said.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. The filibuster has allowed Democrats to block GOP legislation to reopen the government. Democrats are demanding any government funding bill include an extension of health care subsidies.

Trump's push to end the filibuster comes at a key moment when the impacts of the shutdown and the health care issue will become more acute. Americans receiving assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as food stamps, won't receive the benefits starting Nov. 1, the same day that enrollment begins for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans. Insurance premiums could rise substantially without the subsidies.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Unchanged': Senate GOP leaders still say nope to Trump's call to end filibuster

Reporting by Zac Anderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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