Dem Rep. Jamie Raskin backs off calls to eliminate filibuster — now that Trump is lobbying for it

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., avoided answering whether he would support eliminating the filibuster, as he did under President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Raskin was asked by CNN’s Dana Bash about President Donald Trump’s recent comments regarding several Republican losses nationwide Tuesday night and the ongoing government shutdown.

“One of the things that he has been talking about for the last couple of days more intensely is getting rid of the filibuster. That’s actually something that you wanted to do when Joe Biden was president. Things weren’t getting through the Senate. So is that an area where you agree with him?” Bash asked.

“Look, we don’t need a procedural fix at this point,” Raskin answered. “We need the Republicans to recognize that there’s a healthcare crisis they’ve imposed on the country. Millions of people are facing the loss of their health insurance because of the skyrocketing premiums under Trump and the end of the ACA tax credits.”

He continued, “We need to restore those credits, and we need to restore millions of people to Medicaid that were thrown off when they passed a trillion-dollar cut to healthcare in America, while they gave a trillion-dollar tax break to the wealthiest people. That’s why we’re seeing a clean Democratic sweep across America.”

“So you wanted the filibuster to be ended when Biden was president, but now no?” Bash interrupted.

“You know, I’m not in the Senate, so I’ve got no say in that, right?” Raskin said.

He argued that Republicans need to “come to the table” and reopen the government to restore Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to people nationwide.

Fox News Digital reached out to Raskin’s office for comment.

Raskin had supported eliminating the filibuster in 2021 after Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent panel to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“Using the filibuster to cover up the truth about Jan. 6 is a scandalous abuse of power that should bring the filibuster to an immediate and long-overdue end,” Raskin said to The Hill.

Though Trump has called for Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, Senate Republicans have not indicated that they plan on using the “nuclear” option. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in an interview on Tuesday that “there just simply aren’t the votes” to do so right now.