Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has publicly said what conservatives warned Democrats would do once they regained Senate control: clear away the filibuster and allow a majority of senators to advance key measures. His declaration came as he seeks the chamber’s top Democratic leadership post.

During a media question and answer session Friday afternoon, Van Hollen was asked about the filibuster’s future as his party prepares to take control of Congress. He responded that his personal view favors a Senate in which 51 votes can ultimately carry important legislation.

"I believe we, my personal opinion is that we need democracy in the United States Senate and that means allowing, ultimately, the majority of senators to answer the call of the American people," Van Hollen said.

"That means 51 votes," he continued. "My personal view has been all along that the filibuster is an antiquated, 'antidemocratic,' small D provision. It's not in our Constitution. It was put in by Senators to enhance their power over the power of the people."

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"We need to have a system where you have lots of debate, but at the end of the day a majority reflecting the will of the people should be able to hold a vote on an important measure," he added.

Van Hollen said Democratic caucus discussions would still be needed to determine which measures would be covered by such a change. But he identified measures involving "democracy protection" as an area where eliminating the barrier was essential, while also citing far left candidates who ran in 2026 on people power over "the power of money."

The Maryland Democrat has also announced a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York for the top leadership position. In his statement, Van Hollen said the off year election results showed that "the status quo...isn’t working for working people" and argued that Democrats required "new leadership."

BREAKING: Sen Van Hollen says he will nuke the filibuster if elected majority leader https://t.co/f4PW9iNkNy

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 13, 2026

The leadership fight comes amid disorder for Democrats in both chambers. On Friday, presumed House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York, currently the House minority leader, faced heckling and profane attacks from leftist attendees during a liberal conference.

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President Trump had already urged Republicans to end the filibuster before the midterms, describing legislation and election rules they could enact immediately. In a speech during his tour across the country, Trump said ending it would open the way for Kate’s Law, voter identification, and proof of citizenship.

"You terminate it," Trump said, "you'll get Kate's Law, you'll get stuff that you don't even remember. It'll be so beautiful...and we'll never lose an election again, because we'll have great safeguards...You'll have voter ID, you'll have proof of citizenship, you'll have everything that you want."

"That will be legitimate," he continued, "because they [Democrats] can't win without cheating - their policies are so bad."

HOLY CRAP! Senator Chris Van Hollen says he'll TERMINATE the filibuster if Democrats make him Senate Majority Leader — Semafor

And so THERE IT IS. TRUMP CALLED IT. He's running against Chuck Schumer and has already said, "we need to get rid of it." Democrats will hold 56 seats, which is enough to ram through ANYTHING on a party-line vote After this, they'd pack SCOTUS and add DC + Puerto Rico statehood to enact one party rule ‼️ — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 13, 2026

Vice President JD Vance expressed the same position in an interview in July. Conservatives had been calling for the filibuster to be scrapped for months, with Sen. Mike Lee of Utah repeatedly arguing that it stood in the way of legislation such as the SAVE America Act.

The House GOP had passed that measure months earlier, but it had not reached Trump’s desk for a signature. In a March Senate floor speech, Lee tied the debate over voting rules to protection of eligible citizens’ ballots.

"They [the Democrats] say, 'Well, it's [voting] a constitutionally-protected right. Darn right it is! And it's our job to make sure that that's protected. But the fact that it's a constitutionally-protected right in no way, shape, or form means that we have to make it easy to vote, and screw the rest. Let's let them cheat."

Lee said Democrats "ignore that when we allow [voter fraud] to happen," leaving Americans effectively disenfranchised "because their vote matters less." He said votes cast by people "who might not be eligible to do so" can cancel out lawful votes within a district.

Voting is a constitutionally protected right.

All the more reason to ensure it is exercised by AMERICANS ONLY. Those who say otherwise just want to cheat. It’s that simple. https://t.co/Iqw6zqGxZm — Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 21, 2026

He also mocked the claim that requiring identification amounts to "disenfranchisement," comparing that argument with identification processes for a new job. After Van Hollen made the Democrats’ filibuster position public, Lee’s reaction was blunt: "Should’ve done that Now they’re doing it".

Should’ve done that

Now they’re doing it — Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 13, 2026

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