The Senate will reconvene this afternoon as Democrats continue to weigh how to proceed on voting rights in the hope of holding a vote on a bill this week. Senate Democrats are set to plot out the coming days during a conference meeting at 5 p.m. as they scramble for a Plan B to pass voting rights legislation after Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced last week that they would not vote to change the Senate’s filibuster rule despite the pleading of President Joe Biden. Now some Democrats are discussing a novel approach to circumventing a Republican filibuster that may allow voting rights legislation to pass with 51 votes without changing the Senate’s rules. These Democrats, including Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), are exploring the possibility of forcing Senate Republicans to actually hold the floor with speeches and procedural motions. Other Democratic senators have confirmed that colleagues are reviewing the idea of forcing Republicans to stage a talking filibuster to block voting rights legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) gave Senate Democrats a procedural head start on the voting rights legislation by bringing it straight to the floor as a message from the House. That maneuver enabled him to skip having to muster 60 votes to end debate on a motion to proceed to the legislation. The Democratic leader as of now appears inclined to go ahead and hold a simple-majority vote to eliminate the 60-vote procedural threshold, even though that vote is doomed to fail because Senators Sinema and Manchin won’t support it. Leader Schumer on Monday indicated that he wants to go ahead and hold a vote on changing the Senate rule, even though he only has 48 “yes” votes at most.
In more detail, the Freedom to Vote Act contains a slate of proposals to establish nationwide standards for ballot access, in an effort to counteract the wave of new restrictions in states. It would require states to allow a minimum of 15 consecutive days of early voting and that all voters are able to request to vote by mail; establish new automatic voter registration programs; and make Election Day a national holiday. A second measure, named for Representative John Lewis, the civil rights icon who died in 2020, would restore parts of the landmark Voting Rights Act weakened by Supreme Court rulings. Among the provisions was one mandating that jurisdictions with a history of discrimination win prior approval — or “preclearance” — from the Justice Department or federal courts in Washington before changing their voting rules. Republicans have uniformly opposed the legislation, casting it as inappropriate federal intervention in state voting operations and a partisan exercise intended to give Democrats an unfair advantage
The House will reconvene for votes at 6:30 P.M. and will consider one bill under suspension of the Rules, S. 2959 – Supplemental Impact Aid Flexibility Act.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
