Senate Republicans must agree to end the filibuster now, acting before Democrats potentially take control of the chamber and end the procedure themselves, Sen. Ron Johnson told Newsmax on Thursday, while agreeing with President Donald Trump.
Democrats, the Wisconsin Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America," have "no respect for the filibuster" and will eliminate it "to acquire and maintain power."
"I've always been a big supporter of the filibuster," Johnson said. "It has stopped America from going down a socialist path for decades."
Still, he said that Trump is right, and "I told him at this point in time that he's 100% correct."
"The Democrats purged the last two senators who held out and supported the filibuster," he said. "We know they have no respect for it. So we need to strike first."
Johnson said if Republicans move first, it should be "for the benefit of the American people."
"When the Democrats eliminate the filibuster, it'll all be about their maintenance of power," he said.
"If we're to do it, it will be to further secure our border, to secure our elections, and to pass good pieces of legislation," Johnson added.
He also warned Democrats would "pack the Supreme Court" and push for statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico if they regain control of the Senate.
"Right now, the Democrats are holding basically their own family member hostage," Johnson said.
"They will hold every good piece of legislation that will help the American people hostage because they don't want President Trump or Republicans to get credit for it," he continued.
He added that Democrats "just want power," and that it is "sick. It's disgusting, but Republicans have to acknowledge that reality."
The senator added that he would "love to sit down with Democrats to repair the damage done by Obamacare," but said they refuse to acknowledge what he called a "miserable failure."
"We're having a hearing today in my committee on assessing the damage of Obamacare," Johnson said. "If Democrats would admit what a miserable failure it is, we could fix that for the American public."
Turning to other issues, Johnson confirmed he has donated his Senate salary during the shutdown to two charities: The Joseph Project in Milwaukee and React19, a group assisting people injured by COVID vaccines.
He also discussed "Operation Arctic Frost," an investigation into what he called the Biden Justice Department's "spying on Republican lawmakers."
Johnson said the Department of Justice must prioritize releasing documents connected to the probe.
"This has got to be a top priority of Attorney General Pam Bondi," Johnson said.
"We need to expose this massive partisan dragnet designed to provide the material for their lawfare campaign against their political opponent," he added. "This is an order of magnitude worse than Watergate."
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