In November, the American people handed President Trump and the Republican Party a sweeping mandate to govern. The 2024 elections weren’t just a victory—they were a landslide endorsement of conservative leadership and values. Naturally, Democrats—having spent the last several years trying to dismantle the very institutions that protect our republic—are now seeking shelter in them. How ironic. Suddenly, they’ve rediscovered their love for the Senate filibuster and the courts, the same tools they tried to obliterate when it suited them.
Republicans must seize this opportunity to ensure these institutions are protected from future liberal temper tantrums. The vehicle for this transformation? Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution.
Article 5 outlines two methods for amending the Constitution. First, Congress can propose an amendment if two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate support it. Alternatively, two-thirds of state legislatures can request a constitutional convention, and any proposed amendment must then receive support from two-thirds of the delegates at that convention. Either way, it takes 38 states to ratify the change. With President Trump having carried 31 states and Republicans holding majorities in 26 state legislatures, plus inroads in Democrat strongholds like Maine and Vermont, the GOP has the political muscle to make this happen. The shift to the right in 2024—from the top of the ticket to state legislatures—is a golden opportunity to lock in constitutional protections for key norms and institutions.
Republicans should push for an amendment constitutionalizing the Senate filibuster for all legislation except spending bills. The filibuster ensures bipartisan cooperation by requiring 60 votes for most legislation to pass. It prevents radical swings in policy by forcing deliberation and compromise. Democrats, of course, only love the filibuster when they’re in the minority. When they hold power, they scheme to destroy it. In 2022, they tried to kill it outright, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has repeatedly floated gutting it whenever it inconveniences his agenda. Cementing the filibuster in the Constitution would safeguard the Senate as the “greatest deliberative body in the world,” preserving a critical check on runaway partisanship.
Another amendment should fix the number of Supreme Court justices at nine. For decades, Democrats have undermined the Court’s integrity, peddling the idea of “reform” whenever decisions don’t go their way. Their latest gripe is that public trust in the Court is low—conveniently ignoring that it’s still higher than trust in Congress or the presidency. Expanding the Court would turn justices into partisan pawns and obliterate its independence. Americans have rejected court-packing schemes before, most notably in 1937 when FDR’s blatant power grab backfired. Setting the number of justices at nine would preserve the Court’s integrity and protect it from future assaults by Democrats desperate to control every branch of government.
The framers of the Constitution understood that liberty requires institutions insulated from transient political passions. Hamilton warned in Federalist No. 78 that the judiciary must remain independent to safeguard liberty. Republicans now have a chance to heed that warning and shield the Court from partisan manipulation.
President Trump and Republicans need to take advantage of this rare chance to lock in these protections while the momentum is on their side. Whether they do it through Congress or a convention of states, now is the time to add these reforms to the Constitution. This will help keep America’s institutions strong and protected from political games for years to come. Democrats have proven they’ll only protect these tools when it serves their interests; Republicans must act to protect them for the good of the nation.
