Chuck Schumer is going to make his point — even it’s a moot one.
The Democratic Senate majority leader from New York issued a stern warning to Republicans and defenders of the filibuster in his own party Tuesday, saying: “We are going to vote. We are all going to go on the record.”
“Once members of the minority party have exhausted all of their speaking rights and defended their position on the Senate floor, the debate will have run its course and the Senate will move to vote on final passage at a majority threshold,” Schumer added.
“If the Republicans block cloture on the legislation before us, I will put forward a proposal to change the rules to allow for a talking filibuster on this legislation.”
The Senate is now expected to vote Wednesday on changes to the rules that would provide a workaround of the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.
But the vote is almost certain to fail due to centrist Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema’s staunch opposition to changing the requirement.
“Much has been said over the past few days about the prospects of passing voting rights legislation in this chamber,” Schumer said. “Senate Democrats are under no illusion that we face difficult odds, especially when virtually every Senate Republican – virtually every Senate Republican – is staunchly against legislation protecting the right to vote.
“But I want to be clear: When this chamber confronts a question this important—one so vital to our country, so vital to our ideals, so vital to the future of our democracy—you don’t slide it off the table and say, ‘Never mind.’”
In response, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pointed out that the 60-vote filibuster was used by Democrats to defeat a Russia sanctions bill pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
“Democrats want the American people to believe the filibuster was not a Jim Crow relic in 2005; was not a Jim Crow relic in 2020; became a Jim Crow relic in 2021; briefly stopped being a Jim Crow relic last Thursday; but is now back to being a Jim Crow relic this week?” mocked McConnell, who went on to call the legislation a “partisan takeover” of the election system.
“We have inflation, a pandemic, rampant violent crime, a border crisis, and the possibility of a war on the European continent,” he added. “But rather than work on any of that, Senate Democrats want to mar their own legacies with a reckless procedural vote they know will fail.
“A faction this desperate for unlimited short-term power is a faction that must be denied it,” McConnell concluded.
Both Manchin and Sinema have asserted that while they support The Freedom to Vote Act and The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which were combined into one massive piece of legislation by the House last week, they believe the filibuster is a vital component of the Senate and that amending it would deepen America’s political divide.
Proponents of the legislation have cited stricter voting laws enacted in Republican-led states, which they allege disenfranchise minority voters, and last year’s Capitol riot as proof that reform is urgently needed. Senate Republicans have offered to help amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to clarify the role of Congress in certifying election results and guard against a repeat of the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, talk of primary challenges against Manchin and Sinema as a result of their stance has begun to pick up pace, though neither is up for reelection until 2024.
Tuesday evening, the head of the pro-choice group EMILY’s List announced it would no longer endorse Sinema if she stuck to her filibuster stance.
“[I]f Sen. Sinema cannot support a path forward for passage of this legislation, we believe she undermines the foundations of our democracy, her own path to victory and also the mission of EMILY’s List, and we will be unable to endorse her moving forward,” read the statement from organization president Laphonza Butler.
