(Bloomberg) — The U.S. House passed legislation that combines two Democrat-drafted voting rights measures, setting up a Senate showdown that will determine their fate in the coming days.
The stakes for President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are high, with civil rights groups and other progressives increasingly restive over the legislation, which has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate using the chamber’s filibuster rule.
Biden, who progressives have slammed for not doing enough on the issue, will meet Thursday with all Senate Democrats behind closed doors as he pressures two hold-outs — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — to go along with altering the filibuster to get the legislation passed.
House progressives said moving the legislation, a response to new voting restrictions in many states, would keep pressure on the Senate to find a way forward on a rules change and force Republican senators to explain their opposition.
“If we have to go back to people and try to explain why we don’t have voting rights, it’s important they hear from Republicans themselves why they are blocking this critical legislation,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, said Thursday.
Republicans say Democrats are seeking the legislation because it gives them advantages in future elections, including this year’s midterm elections. They point out Democrats first worked on the legislation in 2019.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Biden is setting aside issues of real concerns Americans like soaring inflation and the spreading coronavirus to have a debate on voting law changes that has far less currency.
“When he was inaugurated and pledging to govern for all Americans, to heal and unite the country, this White House enjoyed impressive approval ratings,” McConnell said Thursday on the Senate floor. “But as the far left has been handed the reins, the support has cratered.”
The legislative package, approved by the House on a 220-203 vote, includes the Freedom to Vote Act, a broad bill backed by every Senate Democrat and designed to expand ballot access, and a second measure that restores the Justice Department’s ability to require some states to get pre-clearance for changes to their voting laws. Senate Republicans blocked both bills last year.
The House vote, part of a procedural gambit, will allow Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to start debate without the threat of a GOP filibuster, although Republicans can still block it before it gets to a vote on final passage. At the same time, Senate Democrats continue a long-shot bid to change filibuster rules to allow the legislation to reach Biden for his signature and keep a key 2020 Democratic campaign promise.
“They say, ‘Oh it’s a power grab, oh it’s a takeover,” Schumer said. “Well, my friends, if there was ever a power grab it’s what’s happening in the state legislatures right now, where Republican legislators are taking away people’s sacred right to vote and aiming it particularly at certain groups — people of color, young people, people in urban areas, older people, disabled people.”
Biden on Tuesday traveled to Georgia to rally support for the legislation, even as Manchin told reporters that he opposes both getting rid of the filibuster entirely and changing Senate rules via a simple majority vote, the so-called nuclear option. Instead, he said, any changes to the rules should have bipartisan support.
Both Manchin and Sinema have been meeting with other Democratic senators who want to change Senate filibuster rules so that the voting rights legislation could clear the chamber on a simple majority vote or establish a “talking filibuster” where senators must be present to continue debate. It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster — essentially endless debate — and move forward on most legislation.
Manchin and Sinema aren’t alone in their wariness of significantly changing the filibuster rules. Others, including Jon Tester of Montana, say they don’t want to have a one-time “carve out” to end the filibuster simply to pass the voting rights legislation.
Schumer has vowed to have a Senate floor showdown on the voting rights measures by Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Now that the House has acted, he could bring it up today or tomorrow and avoid any filibuster to start debate. After a day of debate, he could file a motion to close off debate that could get voted on over the weekend.
Republicans remain united against the legislation, so it is almost certain to be blocked. After that point, Schumer will likely propose some change to Senate filibuster rules. But unless both Manchin and Sinema join other Senate Democrats in supporting it as well as using the “nuclear option” to change Senate rules, the effort would fail.
The Freedom to Vote Act, backed by all Senate Democrats, would create an automatic voter registration system through each state’s motor vehicle agency, make Election Day a public holiday and provide voters with at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections. It also is designed to curtail partisan “gerrymandering” of congressional districts and would put in place new campaign finance disclosure requirements that include mandating Super-PACs and other outside groups report their donors.
The second legislation, restoring Justice Department powers that were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013, is called the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Democrats say the legislation is particularly needed after a number of GOP-led state legislatures cleared legislation last year Democrats argue will reduce voting access for minority and younger voters likely to choose Democratic candidates.
At least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting voter access to ballots between Jan. 1 and Dec. 7 of 2021, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
