President
Donald Trump again called for an end to the filibuster and said there will be no deal with Democrats on the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as
DACA.
"Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL," Trump tweeted Sunday morning. In two more tweets Sunday morning, Trump threatened to dismantle the
North American Free Trade Agreement (
NAFTA), which he called Mexico's "cash cow," if the country doesn't reduce the flow of
immigrants coming across the southern US border. Trump also tweeted that "big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!" The President followed up on his tweets as he went into Easter Sunday church service in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"Mexico has got to help us at the border. If they're not going to help us at the border, it's a very sad thing between two countries. Mexico has got to help us at the border. And a lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA and we're going to have to really see," he said. "They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance. But we'll have to take a look. But Mexico has got to help us at the border. They flow right through Mexico. They send them into the United States. Can't happen that way anymore."
This isn't the first time Trump has called for a change to Senate rules by invoking the "nuclear option," which would permit a simple majority to move forward on a measure. Last May, he called for Congress to move to a simple majority to pass health care and tax reform bills.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has emphatically stated he is against changing senate rules to initiate a nuclear option for the legislative filibuster.
Current Senate rules mandate that 60 senators -- three-fifths of the 100-member Senate -- must agree in order to end debate and move forward to a vote on a measure or piece of legislation -- a process known as invoking cloture.