Mitch McConnell’s line on the future of the filibuster is in the fine print.

On the eve of the election, a number of Democratic Party candidates and leaders, including Kamala Harris, were completely on board with a revision of the Senate filibuster rule. Those efforts, as the outgoing Senate Republican leader reminded the public the day after Election Day, will have to wait a while. HuffPost reports.:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that the Senate supermajority threshold for passing legislation would be safe because Republicans would control the chamber – even if President-elect Donald Trump pushes to kill the filibuster. “One of the most encouraging results of the Senate going Republican is that the filibuster will endure,” McConnell said during a news conference at the Capitol.

The Kentucky Republican, who will step down as GOP leader, added that he believes the filibuster “very safe“

It is worth emphasizing that Donald Trump may have a completely different opinion on this matter. During his first term, then-President called repeatedly for the filibuster be eliminatedand it’s easy to imagine him taking a similar step when he returns to the White House.

But let’s assume McConnell is right and the filibuster lasts at least two more years. Is this good news or bad?

Many Democrats may find this reassuring. After all, if Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, the filibuster rule may well be the only thing stopping the GOP majority from passing whatever they want.

But every conversation about the filibuster should focus on an underappreciated detail: Most of what Senate Republicans want can be achieved with a simple majority, making the filibuster virtually irrelevant.

How we discussedIf GOP officials control Capitol Hill, they will approve tax breaks for billionaires through a budget reconciliation process that requires 51 votes in the Senate rather than 60. It’s the same process Republicans used to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the Trump administration . first term, and the party may well try to target health care benefits again in the same way—and a filibuster will not be an option.

Likewise, over the last decade the filibuster rule has had no impact on confirmation votes, meaning that no matter what happens to control of the House, Republicans could spend at least the next two years packing the courts with young , far-right reactionaries – awaiting some Supreme Court retirements.

The fact is that the Republican Party does not have a clear legislative program. If the party spent 2025 and 2026 on tax breaks for the wealthy, confirming biased judges, and allowing the Trump administration to pursue radical goals through executive action, Republicans would consider it time well spent. The filibuster rule will remain in effect, but it will also have no effect.

This post updates our corresponding earlier lighting.