Republican Senator Squashed Trump’s Filibuster Hopes in Phone Call: ‘Job of a Senator Is To Also Kill Bad Ideas’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told CNN’s Manu Raju that he directly defied President Donald Trump on ending the Senate’s filibuster rule in a tense phone call.

CNN’s Early Start on Tuesday aired Kennedy speaking to reporters, including Raju, explaining that he told Trump his job as a senator is to “kill bad ideas,” referring to the president’s insistence that the Senate throw out its filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to pass legislation. Dumping the filibuster and requiring only a simple majority would allow Republicans to pass a continuing resolution to reopen the federal government.

“He called me, I explained to him, I said, Mr. President, the job of a senator is not just to advance good ideas. The job of the senator is also to kill bad ideas,” Kennedy said about his phone call with Trump, which took place before the president’s recent trip to Asia.

“And how did you take your response?” Raju asked.

“Well, like you would expect,” Kennedy said, adding that the president “wasn’t unhappy.”

The senator told Raju it’s unlikely the filibuster rule will end in his lifetime despite the president’s wishes.

One Trump advisor told Axios in a Tuesday report that Trump will make life “hell” for any Republican lawmakers not going along with his filibuster plans.

Check out the Kennedy/Raju exchange below:

JOHN KENNEDY: He called me, I explained to him, I said, Mr. President, the job of a senator is not just to advance good ideas. The job of the senator is also to kill bad ideas.

MANU RAJU: And how did you take your response?

KENNEDY: Well, like you would expect.

RAJU: Not happy?

KENNEDY: Well, he wasn’t unhappy. I mean, the president didn’t yell or anything. Of course, he’s never yelled at me. There’s always a first time, you know, but, but he doesn’t agree with me and sometimes reasonable people disagree, but my personal opinion, I could be wrong, but I doubt we’re not going to change the filibuster or the blue slip while we’re in charge during your or my natural lifetime.

Watch above via CNN.