Trump warns Republican Party is “DEAD” if Democrats end filibuster, expand court

Trump the president cited a Democratic resolution from progressive, Black and Hispanic caucus chairs that seeks structural changes to the Supreme Court and elimination of the Senate's 60-vote threshold.

First Published: July 19, 2026, 10:13 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump warned Republicans that the party faces extinction if Democrats gain power and reshape the Supreme Court.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “They do this, and the Republican Party is DEAD! Key House caucus leaders target Supreme Court, Senate filibuster: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/06/24/congress/dem-caucuses-target-scotus-00973895”

The president shared a Politico report on Truth Social about a Democratic resolution that calls for ending the Senate filibuster and enacting structural changes to the court, according to newsweek.com. His message arrived about four months before midterm elections that Democrats hope will hand them control of Congress.

Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, introduced the resolution on June 24, 2026, according to newsweek.com. It was cosponsored by Representatives Yvette Clarke, Adriano Espaillat, Grace Meng, Hank Johnson and Kweisi Mfume, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. The measure calls for restoring the Voting Rights Act, eliminating the 60-vote Senate threshold, and considering reforms such as term limits and expanding the size of the Supreme Court.

“They do this, and the Republican Party is DEAD!” Trump said in the post, sharing the report on the platform he owns.

The resolution is not part of the official Democratic Party platform and has little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled Congress, according to newsweek.com. Its symbolic weight comes from the backing of leaders of several House Democratic caucuses. Much of the text responds to the court’s April 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which the sponsors say gutted what remained of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The stakes divide the two parties along familiar lines. Ending the filibuster would let a simple Senate majority pass sweeping legislation, benefiting whichever party controls the chamber while stripping the minority of its power to block bills. Expanding the court could dilute the conservative 6-3 majority that Trump built by confirming Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett during his first term.

The Supreme Court has held nine justices since 1869, though Congress has changed its size several times through U.S. history. A May Marquette Law School Poll found Americans evenly split, with 50 percent favoring more justices and 50 percent opposed, according to newsweek.com. That survey of 1,001 adults ran May 20-26, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

For the average reader, the outcome would decide how easily future Congresses pass laws on taxes, health care and voting, and how durable court rulings on those issues remain. A Senate without the filibuster could move faster on legislation that touches household budgets and civil rights.

Has this happened before? This has happened before. Trump repeatedly called for ending the legislative filibuster during his first term, including in fights over government funding, according to newsweek.com. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to enlarge the court in 1937, and Democrats floored expansion proposals after Republicans confirmed three justices under Trump.

The next move rests with the House Committee on the Judiciary, where the resolution now sits. No date for a committee vote has been announced. Republicans hold a 218-212 House majority, so Democrats need to flip only a handful of seats to seize control in the November midterms.

Threats to remake the court are not the first time this fight has flared. Roosevelt, fresh off a 1936 landslide of 523 electoral votes, proposed adding up to six justices to a court that had struck down New Deal programs. The Senate rejected the plan 70-20 in 1937, and Roosevelt never named a single new seat, leaving the nine-member bench intact for the decades that followed.