Fight over filibuster heats up as Democrats and Republicans clash over voting rights
Senate’s legislative filibuster is heating up as lawmakers consider Democratic legislation that could determine the future of voting rights in the nation.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that passage of the For The People Act, often referred to by its House designation H.R.1, was a moral imperative for Democrats.
“I think that we have to pass voting rights no matter what,” Warnock said when asked if he thought the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold had to be eliminated to get the bill passed.
Warnock said he would prefer to win the support of Senate Republicans but indicated that if Democrats could not get enough of them on board, the filibuster would have to go. “The ball is in their court,” he said.
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Graham said the For The People Act, which has passed the House and is now before the Senate, is cover for a “liberal agenda” that Democrats will seek to pass by evoking the “racism card” in their arguments for the legislation. He said the law “institutionalizes ballot harvesting,” removes “the voter ID requirement, limits state autonomy” and “makes the Federal Election Commission a partisan commission.”
“a new Jim Crow era.”
“It is disconcerting that here we are again, fighting for what’s basic, but we will not be worn down. We intend to stand up to this moment,” Warnock said of a sweeping voting law passed in Georgia that adds more stringent requirements to voter registration and restricts the hours of operation for polling sites.
“We cannot allow politicians to silence the people,” Warnock stressed.
Republicans have been skeptical of claims of widespread voter suppression, arguing the measures in the bill are necessary to curtail fraud.
“There is a completely false narrative about so-called voter suppression. You look at the Georgia law, there’s no voter suppression,” Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
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Voting rights are not the only policy issue spurring activist calls for changes to the filibuster. Gun control organizations, environmental activists and labor unions have all taken aim at the Senate rule as an obstacle to passing their respective priorities.
Republicans cautioning against abolishing the filibuster are quick to point out that when they were in the minority, Democrats frequently used the filibuster to stall Republican legislative priorities.
“Some of our Democratic colleagues are simply making a shameful attempt to really ruin what remains of the functioning of the Senate. And it’ll do long-term damage to the country,” Toomey said.
Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday about the importance of the passing voting rights legislation.
The fate of the filibuster rests largely in the hands of moderate Democratic senators, like Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who said at the start of the legislative session they would not vote to eliminate the rule.
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