| The time to vote — or at least stage a real debate — is nigh for Senate Democrats, who are set to plow ahead in the coming days with what will be an unsuccessful bid to alter the filibuster and enact an overhaul of voting rights and elections. Fresh off the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Senate will reconvene this afternoon as Democrats continue to weigh how to proceed on the issue in the hope of holding a vote on a bill in the coming days. What isn’t in doubt is how this will end: Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are against nixing the 60-vote requirement to end debate, effectively putting to bed any chance to pass the voting rights changes. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking at a National Action Network event on Monday, acknowledged the arduous road that lies ahead. “I'm going to go down to Washington and we are going to debate voting rights. We are going to debate it, and, in the Senate, you know we need 60 votes to break a Republican filibuster ... but since we only have 50 Democrats in our razor-thin majority, the only path forward on this important issue is to change the rules to bypass the filibuster,” Schumer said. “There are two Democrats who don't want to make that happen. But the fight is not over, far from it” (The Hill). The Washington Post: The left dreamed of remaking America. Now, it stares into the abyss as President Biden’s plans wither. Politico: Democrats stare down another failure to deliver for their base. The Wall Street Journal: Schumer hits trouble after earlier wins in 50-50 Senate. What is in doubt, however, is how the majority will proceed in the coming days knowing how this movie will likely end. As The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports, instead of holding a vote to end debate on the bill in question, Democrats say they could force Republicans to debate on the floor, make procedural objections and demand amendments to keep the bill from coming up for a final yes-or-no vote at a simple majority threshold. “There are a couple of paths here. Do we go down the path and do a long debate until it's done and then have a simple debate?” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters last week. “We wouldn't need a rules change to pass the bill by simple majority if the debate is over. Theoretically, you do not need a rules change to pass a bill that's on the floor. You just have to allow debate to occur.” The downside for Senate Democrats is it’s a strategy that hasn’t been employed in recent memory and no one is quite sure how it would play out procedurally. Nonetheless, they believe Schumer is considering it. “Democrats don’t need 60 votes at all. They’re in 51-vote territory. They can move to table any amendments that Republicans offer to the bill,” James Wallner, a former Senate Republican aide and expert on Senate procedure, told The Hill. Senate Democrats are set to plot out the coming days during a conference meeting at 5 p.m. (CNN). The Washington Post: King’s family marches in D.C. for Senate action on voting rights bill. The Hill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggests filibuster supporters “dishonor” King’s legacy on voting rights. 
© Associated Press/Jose Luis Magana > More Congress: More than a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, threats targeting lawmakers have only increased as violent online speech surges. As The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch details, threats against members reached 9,600 during 2021, a new high. The fears escalated last week as U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested a Michigan woman who they said showed up outside the department's headquarters with multiple guns seeking to talk about the deadly Capitol riot. The Hill: Hispanic Caucus lawmaker won't attend meeting with Vice President Harris's new aide. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment