Senate fails to advance sweeping voting rights bill aimed at expanding early voting, registration
Harris’ steps into high-wire act on voting rights as pressure builds on election bills
Just hours before the vote, Democrats achieved a unified caucus with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., announcing he’d back the legislation to move forward.
But despite Democrats having a united vote to advance it, the bill was never expected to advance.
More:Voting rights bill poised for Senate action while Republicans remain opposed, Manchin offers compromise
Until Tuesday afternoon, questions swirled around Manchin and whether he would join Democrats in voting to advance the bill. He had previously criticized the legislation as being too partisan, and released a list of provisions in the bill he opposed and supported, saying then he would not rule out voting for a modified piece of legislation.
“But whichever label Democrats slap on their bill, the substance remains the same. It’s always been a plan to rewrite the ground rules of American politics,” McConnell said.
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Democrats on Tuesday continued to argue they should at least be able to debate the legislation on the floor.
Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., asked, “Why can’t we debate it on the floor and look at how to improve it?”
“I think that’s what frustrates progressives, moderates and many Republicans, if we’re honest,” he continued.
“I would love to get some support from the other side of the aisle but frankly I don’t expect we’re going to get it,” Klobuchar said from the floor, prior to Tuesday’s vote. She continued that “This is not the end of the line, this is only the beginning” and promised a series of hearings on voter suppression bills in states like Georgia.
The legislation’s expected failure in the Senate would be a blow to Democrats, voting rights groups, and the White House — though progressives have expressed anger he did not advocate more for the legislation.
Prior to the vote, President Joe Biden tweeted, “We can’t sit idly by while democracy is in peril – here, in America. We need to protect the sacred right to vote and ensure “We the People” choose our ldrs, the very foundation on which our democracy rests. We urgently need the For The People Act. Send it to my desk.”
For weeks, progressives have said Biden hasn’t pushed the issue enough.
“He’s not absent, but he needs to be a lot more vocal and a lot more out front,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D., N.Y., told CNN Tuesday morning.
The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded when asked about Bowman’s criticism that “those words are a fight against the wrong opponent.”
However, Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s been tapped to lead the administration’s voting rights effort, spoke with Schumer about the For The People Act over the weekend, according to a White House official who provided details on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the vice president’s outreach.
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Voting rights group who have been lobbying Congress had mixed emotions about the measure’s outcome.
Stephanie Young, executive director of When We All Vote, an initiative led by former first lady Michelle Obama, said their organization will not be discouraged no matter what happens in the Senate.
“Voting is not a partisan issue,” she told USA TODAY in an interview. “The problem right now is that people are making voting out to be partisan when it’s fundamentally American. It is the cornerstone, the bedrock of our democracy, but if we want to call ourselves a true democracy, we have to make it possible for everybody to vote.”
More than 70 leading companies joined When We All Vote and other voting rights groups in calling on the Senate this week to pass the legislation.
Young said the group intends to keep putting pressure on Congress, and that they are hopeful due to steps the Biden administration is taking.
But she warned that continued roadblocks could have a negative impact.
“Do I think Americans at large will feel discouraged — yeah, they could feel discouraged that the people that they elect want to prevent them or make it harder for them to vote,” Young said.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci