Jan 11, 2022, 10:24am
According to multiple reports, President Joe Biden is expected to throw his support behind at least partially changing Senate rules to abolish the filibuster when it comes to voting rights, his biggest endorsement for the rule change yet.
President Joe Biden gives a speech in Statuary Hall of the U.S Capitol on January 6, 2022.
The images are from the same company.
A White House official told the New York Times that Biden will support removing the filibuster from voting rights legislation, but will not support removing the whole thing.
Voting rights bills can be passed with a simple majority of votes in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes needed to pass non-spending bills.
The Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act were both passed by the House but were not approved by the Senate due to the rules of the chamber.
The Senate will vote on the bills next week, which will mark a turning point in the nation, according to prepared remarks released by the White House.
If Republicans don't back the voting rights bills, the Senate will change the filibuster rules by January 17th.
The White House said Monday that Biden will advocate for voting rights and pass legislation that protects them during his speech in Georgia, a state that has become a central battleground for voting rights.
Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice? I know where I am. I won't yield. Biden is expected to say Tuesday that he will not flinch. Where will the United States Senate stand?
What to watch for.
The Senate will have a vote on the issue of voting rights, and if Democrats get behind the effort to nix the filibuster. Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell said in a statement that Republicans would show how this reckless action would have immediate consequences if Schumer tried to get rid of the filibuster. The White House and other Senate Democrats may not be able to convince moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to back the effort to get rid of the filibuster.
Critics.
Voting rights advocates are expected to largely boycott Biden's speech because they say he's not going far enough to address the crisis, with a coalition of activist groups releasing a statement last week that told the president not to come to Georgia if it's just an "empty gesture." The executive director of the Black Voters Matter Fund said that they don't need another speech. What we need is action and a plan. Voting rights advocate and Georgia gubernatorial candidate,Stacey Abrams, will also skip the speech due to a conflict.
The key background.
In December, Biden told ABC News that he would support a carve-out for voting rights if it was the only thing standing between legislation passing or not passing. Republican state lawmakers have moved to pass restrictive voting laws in the wake of the 2020 election after former President Donald Trump made baseless claims about election fraud. More than 100 state bills limiting voting have either been pre-filed for or will be carried over from 2021, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The Freedom to Vote Act would counteract many of the state-level restrictions through measures like mandating no-excuse Absentee Voting, same-day voter registration, shortening long voting lines, and banning giving water to those in line. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would make it harder for certain states to pass restrictive voting laws by requiring them to get approval from the federal government in order to change them.
The New York Times reported that Biden will support changing Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation.
Biden is going to make a push for voting rights.
Groups tell Biden and Harris to come to Atlanta with a plan to pass voting laws.
Schumer is threatening to vote on changes to voting rights.
What might the Democrats do about the voting rights bill? Thirty eight.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
