The Biden White House and Democrats in Congress have recently prioritized passing voting rights legislation, according to multiple outlets, but they may lack the party unity to overcome GOP opposition.
On Wednesday, Biden told reporters there’s “nothing domestically more important than voting rights.” POLITICO adds:
The White House has been considering connecting the voting rights drive with the upcoming first anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, making the case that the most sacred tenant of America’s democracy remains under siege one year after the insurrection fueled by the election fraud lies told by former President Donald Trump.
The recent push to expand access to the ballot has accelerated as Biden’s massive social spending bill has encountered obstacles in Congress. According to NBC News, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer now believes the bill will not pass before the new year.
On the other hand, The Washington Post reports that several Democratic lawmakers are “optimistic” that there’s momentum to pass voting rights legislation. NAACP President Derrick Johnson, a voting rights advocate, met with a handful of Senators on Wednesday.
But that optimism might be misplaced. Since the GOP opposes new voting rights laws proposed by Democrats, the filibuster would have to be eliminated for changes to be made.
Democrats showed some appetite for at least temporarily suspending the filibuster. Earlier this week, they passed a law without Republican support that raises the debt ceiling.
Sen. Raphael Warnock urged his colleagues to adopt a similar approach to voting laws. “I believe that it is misplaced to change the Senate rules only for the benefit of the economy when the warning lights on our democracy are flashing at the same time,” he said on Tuesday. “I happen to believe that our democracy is at least as important as the economy.”
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who has held up much of Biden’s economic agenda, seems least likely to work around the filibuster.
“A rules change should be done to where we all have input . . . because we’re all going to live with it,” he told reporters Wednesday. “Because we’ll be in the minority sometime.”
But Manchin’s colleagues are trying to broker a compromise agreement. More from POLITICO:
As pressure ramps up, a group of Senate Democrats have been working on possible rule changes to the chamber that could, potentially, pacify the party’s more centrist members. Those senators — Angus King (I-Maine), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) — met with Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday to discuss Senate rule reforms.
“The longer we wait the more mischief the states are performing,” said King.
Most state legislatures are reconvening in the New Year. In the absence of federal guardrails on voting rights, many GOP-led states will likely pass new laws that make it harder to vote.
