Senate Majority Leader John Thune is on a collision course with President Donald Trump over nixing a longstanding legislative tool to end the 36-day government shutdown.

Thune, who pledged to defend the filibuster on Day One of his leadership tenure, reiterated on Wednesday that Republicans would not scrap the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to end the shutdown. The majority leader argued that allowing most legislation to pass at a simple majority threshold would help Democrats enact a far-left agenda the next time they wield power in Washington. He also added that Republicans simply do not have the votes to scrap the filibuster.

“The practical reality of it is … that there just aren’t the votes in the Senate, and for that matter, not even close,” Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundati

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