It’s not gonna work in the US Senate…..
The Senate will consider a Democratic bill on Tuesday that, if enacted, would be the most expansive federal election overhaul in generations. Republicans are expected to use the filibuster to block debate.
Democratic leaders plan to call a test vote to try to advance the bill, known as the For the People Act, though they are all but certain to fail. As Republican-led states rush to enact restrictive voting laws, Democrats have presented the legislation as the party’s best chance to undo them, expand ballot access and limit the impact of special interests on the political process.
“We can argue what should be done to protect voting rights and safeguard our democracy, but don’t you think we should be able to debate the issue?” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Monday in a last-ditch appeal to Republicans to let the bill proceed.
But even if all 50 Senate Democrats vote to advance the bill, it is expected to fall well short of the 60 votes needed to begin debate.
That would leave Mr. Schumer with only one option to try to pass the legislation: blowing up the legislative filibuster. Progressives, who have clamored to do so since Democrats won a narrow Senate majority in January, argued that the vote would help make their case. But a handful of moderates, led by Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, say they will never go along.
With the path forward so murky, top Democrats are framingTuesday’s vote as a moral victory. The White House endorsed a compromise framework proposed last week by Mr. Manchin under the assumption that it would be enough to persuade him to vote yes.
“What we are measuring, I think, is: Is the Democratic Party united? We weren’t as of a couple of weeks ago,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said before acknowledging the vote would fail.
She suggested the outcome might “change the conversation on the Hill” around the filibuster, but offered no clear next steps….
BREAKING
As expected..
Republicans Use Filibuster To Block Debate On Democrats’ Major Voting Rights Bill talkingpointsmemo.com/news/republica…
The vote was 50/50….
But 60 yes votes where needed for passage..
Post layer when the dust settles