'Ridiculous': Schumer slams Republicans for blocking Democrats' voting rights bill
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What you need to know
The Democrats’ voting and election bill failed to advance in the Senate after a procedural vote to open debate on the legislation was defeated by a tally of 50-50, falling short of the 60 votes needed to succeed.
Senate Democrats pitched the legislation as necessary to counter efforts by GOP-led legislatures to swiftly pass state laws that would impose restrictions on voting.
All 50 Senate Republicans united in opposing the bill, having decried it as a partisan power grab and federal overreach into state voting and election systems.
Our live coverage has ended. Read more about today’s vote here.
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With today's defeat, Democrats now look to push for passage of John Lewis Voting Rights Act
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters today that she and President Biden intend to continue to push for voting reform, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is likely to come to the Senate floor later this year.
This proposal, named after late Georgia Democratic congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis aims to restore enforcement provisions of the Voting Rights Act. It first became law in 1965, shortly after a bloody law enforcement attack on peaceful voting rights activists on a bridge in Selma, Alabama, shocked and shamed the nation into action.
The Voting Rights Act’s requirements — that nine states and parts of others with a history of racial discrimination win federal approval, or “pre-clearance” before changing their election procedures — were nullified by the Supreme Court in its 2013 Shelby County v Holder decision. (The court didn’t strike down pre-clearance but said the law relied on an old formula that needed updating. Congress hasn’t agreed on a new formula in the intervening years.)
Soon after the ruling, states began erecting new barriers to voting, ranging from voter ID laws to signature-matching requirements. And those efforts ramped up this year with many Republican-controlled states proposing a raft of new voting restrictions, spurred on by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
A recent version of the new John Lewis Act would extend pre-clearance to states that have incurred multiple voting rights violations in the last 25 years — an attempt to get around the Supreme Court majority’s concern in Shelby that states were being punished for decades-old misdeeds, rather than current discriminatory practices.
Although a version of the Voting Rights Act rewrite passed the House in an earlier Congress, the John Lewis Act is not actually a bill right now. Committee hearings to fine-tune its provisions are planned as a precursor to its reintroduction in the House.
“I thought perhaps some of the Republicans would step up and say that this national strategy of changing state laws and making it more difficult was just wrong, but they didn’t. They stood together,” he said.
Durbin went on to criticize Republicans as “the party that is supporting voter suppression.”
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Harris: "The fight is not over"
Pool
Vice President Kamala Harris’ told reporters that “the fight is not over” after Republicans unanimously blocked the Democrats’ sweeping election and voting reform bill.
Harris expressed that she and President Biden intend to continue to push for voting reform, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is likely to come to the Senate floor later this year.
This what Harris told reporters after leaving the Senate floor where she presided over the vote:
Watch Harris’ remarks:
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Schumer calls GOP opposition "indefensible" and pledges to continue fight for voting rights
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
Senate TV
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor moments after Republicans voted in unison to not open debate on the Democrats’ signature voting rights and election bill, saying saying GOP opposition was “indefensible” and an “enduring disgrace.”
“Once again, Senate Republicans have signed their names in the ledger of history alongside Donald Trump, the big lie, and voter suppression,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks Schumer also suggested his Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was deploying the same tactics used by Southern senators to oppose efforts surrounding the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“The Republican leader uses the language and the logic of the southern senators in the sixties who defended states rights and it is an indefensible position for any senator, any senator, let alone for the minority leader to hold,” he said.
“That is both ridiculous and awful,” he added of Republicans’ opposition to the bill.
Schumer then pledged to continue the fight.
“Republican senators may have prevented us from having a debate on voting rights today but I want to be very clear about one thing, the fight to protect voting rights is not over, by no means,” he said. “In the fight for voting rights, this vote was the starting gun not the finish line.”
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Democrats' voting and election bill defeated in Senate amid GOP opposition
From CNN's Clare Foran and Annie Grayer
Senate Democrats suffered a loss on Tuesday when Republican opposition sunk their signature voting and election bill during a key test vote, underscoring the limits of the party’s power with the narrowest possible Senate majority.
A procedural vote to open debate on the legislation was just defeated by a tally of 50-50, falling short of the 60 votes needed to succeed.
Democrats were united in favor of the vote after securing support from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but Republicans were united against it, causing the measure to fail to advance.
Senate Democrats have pitched the legislation a necessary counter to state-level efforts to restrict voting access, but Republicans have decried it as a partisan power grab and a federal overreach into state voting and election systems.
Schumer urges Republicans to stand up to Trump and vote in favor of election bill
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Ahead of the procedural vote to open debate on the Democrats’ election bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Republicans over the expected failure of the legislation and laid the blame on former President Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
“Do not let this man lead you around by the nose and do permanent damage to our democracy,” he continued, “At least have the decency and honor to let this chamber debate.”
Schumer also spoke on the history of voting rights in America, noting that many of the Democrats in the chamber would not have been allowed to vote when the nation was first founded.
“The truth is, many of us, particularly on our side of the aisle, would not have been able to vote,” he said. “But ever since the early days of the Republic, Americans launched mighty movements, fought a bloody civil war, and yes, passed federal election laws to expand the franchise until there were no more boundaries,” he said.
“Are we going to backslide, here in the 21st century?” he asked
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NOW: Senate holds test vote on whether to open debate on voting and election bill
From CNN's Clare Foran and Lauren Fox
Senate TV
The Senate is voting now on a procedural motion on whether to begin debate on the Democrats’ signature voting and election bill known as the For the People Act.
The Senate is taking up an amended version of the legislation that passed the House in March.
Democrats are expected to put a united front after securing support from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but the party is still on track to suffer a stinging defeat with Republican opposition expected to sink the bill. It would need 60 votes to succeed, a threshold it is not expected to meet.
Democratic senators have pitched the legislation a necessary counter to state-level efforts to restrict voting access, but Republicans have united against it, decrying it as a partisan power grab and a federal overreach into state voting and election systems.
It would institute an ethics code for the US Supreme Court that would apply to justices and would implement measures intended to prevent presidential conflicts of interest.
It would stop lawmakers from using taxpayer money to reach settlements in employment discrimination cases stemming from their own actions.
Some more background: Failure of the bill to move forward will force Democrats to confront the question of what else they can do to press the issue and will likely trigger a fresh outpouring of calls from progressives to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires most bills to get the votes of at least 10 Republicans given the current Senate makeup. But the votes are not there to eliminate the filibuster with Manchin and several other moderate Democrats opposed.
Democrats’ voting rights bill is bipartisan everywhere except the US Senate, Democratic senator says
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
Senate TV
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, took to the Senate floor prior to the vote on whether to open debate on so-called For the People Act, saying the legislation is bipartisan everywhere in the US, except the Senate, where all 50 Republicans are expected to vote block the legislation.
“While they may claim, my friends on the other side of the aisle, that this isn’t popular, it is just not true,” Klobuchar said. “They claim it is not bipartisan, it is just not true.”
Moments after Klobuchar concluded, the Senate began voting on a procedural motion on whether to begin debate on the Democrats’ signature voting and election bill known as the For the People Act.
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GOP Sen. Collins outlines opposition to For the People Act: "I shall cast my vote against this flawed bill"
From CNN's Clare Foran and Manu Raju
Senate TV
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, another key GOP swing vote, outlined her opposition to the For the People Act in Senate floor remarks ahead of a key test vote later today where the bill is expected to be defeated due to GOP opposition.
“This is a bill that was introduced to enhance partisan messaging, not to enhance participation in our elections, as the over-the-top rhetoric about this bill highlights,” she said earlier in her remarks.
Sen. Blumenthal: Democrats won’t "abandon this fight" for voting rights as legislation faces defeat
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
Tasos Kataopodis/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, today pledged he and fellow Democrats would continue their fight for voting rights, even as their initial bill faces near certain failure in the upper chamber this evening.
Once Republicans have blocked the so-called For the People Act, Blumenthal said Democrats plan to go back to the negotiation table and try to draft legislation that could attract the 10 Republican votes Democrats need to overcome the 60-vote threshold and open debate.
Blumenthal, who is in favor of completely abolishing the filibuster, then defended his own use of the procedural mechanism in the past to halt Republican legislation.
“I’ve seen my colleagues one by one decide that Republicans’ overuse, abuse, and misuse of the filibuster rule, the 60-vote threshold, has led them to believe enough is enough,” he said. “That’s why there are just a handful of Democrats left who are in favor of preserving this arcane rule that the founders would have absolutely rejected.
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Democrats begin to map out next steps on new election rules with focus on Georgia
From CNN's Manu Raju
Senate Democrats, stymied in their push to mandate a major revamp of election laws, are beginning to map out their next steps to draw attention to the issue and to put the focus on a critical battleground state: Georgia.
The Democratic-led Senate Rules Committee plans to move ahead with a series of hearings, including in Georgia, calling for passage of new legislation — as well as to spotlight Republican-led efforts at the state level to enact restrictive measures in the wake of the growth of mail-in voting during the 2020 election season.
At the center of the list: Georgia, the state that President Joe Biden narrowly won and that elected two Democratic senators, effectively giving their party control of the Senate — and prompting former President Donald Trump’s outrage and conspiracy theories that the election was somehow stolen.
Since then, Republicans in Georgia have pushed through new voting restrictions in a state that could again determine the Senate majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, plans to hold a field hearing in Georgia, along with a series of other hearings that she says will draw attention to GOP efforts at the state level and renew calls for the Democratic push for a broader bill at the federal level.
The move underscores the legislative reality for Democrats: They lack 60 votes to overcome a Republican-led filibuster in the 50-50 Senate and are looking for ways to keep the issue front and center in the run-up to the midterms next year.
Biden tweets picture of phone call with Schumer discussing election bill ahead of key test vote
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
President Biden tweeted a picture of a phone call he had with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today where they discussed the For the People Act.
The bill is set to face a key procedural vote tonight, and expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to succeed.
See the President’s tweet:
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Harris meets with GOP Sen. Murkowski off Senate floor following senator's speech criticizing voting bill
From CNN's Ali Zaslav, Clare Foran and Ted Barrett
Vice President Kamala Harris was seen meeting with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, in the vice president’s office right off the Senate floor. CNN reporters saw them walk into the room.
Murkowski, a key swing vote in the Senate, in a floor speech criticized the For the People Act which will face a test vote later today, saying that even though there are parts of the bill that she supports, overall it is “wholly partisan,” and has provisions that are “bad policy.”
Republicans have been unified in opposition to the bill and are expected to remain unified in their opposition during the test vote.
“My concern and I’ve shared with many is that the bill that we have in front of us is not so much about voting rights as it is a federal takeover of the election system and a partisan federal takeover,” she said.
Murkowski did offer praise for some elements of the bill, saying, “There are certain aspects of S1 that I absolutely do support.”
By way of example, she said, “Early voting, we shouldn’t be limited to just the day of the election, I think we recognize that. What we can do to ensure that early voting is there, I think is important to us,” and “I think we need to be doing more when it comes to ease of voter registration.”
Murkowski also talked about absentee voting, saying, “I come from a state where you want to vote absentee, there is no excuse required. You can just vote absentee because it is more convenient to you. I was really surprised to find out how many states do not allow for that. I think that’s something that we need to address. I am supportive of that.”
A White House official confirmed that Harris met with Sen. Murkowski just off the Senate floor in the VP’s private office for close to an hour, before the vote.
Leaving the meeting, Murkowski said she and the Harris did not discuss the voting legislation that’s on the floor. But an administration official said they did discuss infrastructure.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.
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Vice President Harris will preside over Senate for voting rights vote
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In a rare move, Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the Senate tonight as it votes on whether to open debate on a sweeping Democratic voting rights bill that Republicans have vowed to block, according to her office.
Earlier this month, President Biden announced Harris would lead his administration’s efforts on voting rights. Harris will preside over tonight’s vote, which is expected to fail, in her role as president of the Senate.
A White House official says Harris is on Capitol Hill presiding over the cloture vote on voting rights as a way to “send a message that this is important to the White House, important to the vice presidency, that we take this seriously.”
At least 14 states have enacted 22 new laws making it harder to vote
From CNN's Janie Boschma
Today’s Senate vote on the Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill comes as state lawmakers have enacted nearly two dozen laws since the 2020 election that restrict ballot access, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.
Most of the new laws make it harder to vote absentee and by mail, after a record number of Americans voted by mail in November.
In addition to the new laws, the Brennan Center’s latest report identified 61 bills that were advancing through 18 state legislatures as of May 14. Advancing bills include those that have either passed at least one chamber or have otherwise made progress at the committee level.
Overall, since the election, the Brennan Center has identified at least 389 bills introduced in 48 states that include provisions that would restrict voting access. The only two states where lawmakers have not yet introduced a restrictive voting bill are Delaware and Vermont.
Texas is a key state to watch with the most restrictive voting bills introduced overall, though it has not yet enacted any of those 49 bills. Texas is tied with Michigan for the most bills (nine) still advancing through the legislature.
Schumer declines to weigh in on how Democrats will tackle voting rights after today's expected failed vote
From Ali Zaslav, Ryan Nobles and Manu Raju
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday declined to weigh in on how Democrats will tackle voting rights after tonight’s vote to open debate on the legislation, which is expected to fail.
CNN’s Manu Raju asked in the wake of two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, making very clear they will not gut the legislative filibuster, whether he can say that Democrats will not touch the 60 vote threshold this Congress.
Schumer again dodged, replying: “We are not going to put the cart before the horse. We are going to have the vote then we will discuss the future.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Rules Committee, at the weekly policy news conference laid out more details on the voting rights legislation agreement made with Manchin. She said it includes things like same-day registration and allowing people to be automatically registered when they apply for a driver’s license, among others.
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Manchin will vote yes to begin debate on election overhaul bill, Schumer says
Schumer says that he’s agreed to give Manchin’s proposal a vote as an amendment.
In a statement released by Manchin’s office, the senator confirmed he will vote in favor of opening debate on the bill.
Manchin’s yes vote means Democrats will be united, and will get 50 votes on the measure.
But Republicans are also united, meaning the Democrats won’t get the 60 votes needed to even begin debate.
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Obama invokes Jan. 6 insurrection in advocating for support of the For the People Act
From CNN's Dan Merica
People storm the Capitol building on January 6, in Washington, DC.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Former President Barack Obama invoked the Jan, 6 insurrection at the Capitol on Monday to advocate for the For the People Act, the voting rights bill that is set to face its first Senate procedural vote today.
Obama, during a grassroots conference call for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said that the insurrection proved Americans cannot “take our democracy for granted,” arguing the United States could become one of the many countries around the world that were “once vibrant democracies” but who went in “reverse” because anti-democratic decisions.
The former president went on to say that “our own history” should remind Americans about the importance of fighting for democracy, adding that recent attempts to pass restrictive voting laws mean “we are going to have to be vigilant in fighting back attempts by the few to silence the many. And that is why what is happening in the Senate is so important.”
Obama opened the call by noting that since he left office in 2017, he has tried to “not to weigh in on the day to day scrum in Washington.” But that the vote set to take place this week “is more than just a particular bill coming up or not coming up to a vote,” calling the For The People Act a “product of compromise.”
Obama specifically invoked West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s name when he spoke about compromise, calling the bill a group of “common sense reforms” that most Americans agree on.
Obama made clear that the bill being considered doesn’t have “everything I would like to see” in a voting rights package, but said it is an important step to ensuring the future elections are fair. The former President, who was joined by former Attorney General Eric Holder on the call, slammed Republicans for planning to use the filibuster to stop consideration of the measure.
“Right now at least, Republicans in the Senate are lining up to try to use the filibuster to stop the For the People Act from even being debated,” Obama said.
“Think about this: In the aftermath of an insurrection, with our democracy on the line, and many of these same Republican senators going along with the notion that somehow there were irregularities and problems with legitimately in our most recent election. They are suddenly afraid to even talk about these issues and figure out solutions on the floor of the Senate. They don’t even want to talk about voting. And that is not acceptable,” he said.
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White House says it "strongly supports" passage of Senate Democrats' voting legislation
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
The White House has released a statement of administration policy in support of the For the People Act, writing it “strongly supports” its passage in the Senate, just as it supported HR1 in the House.
“Democracy is in peril, here, in America. The right to vote – a sacred right in this country – is under assault with an intensity and an aggressiveness we have not seen in a long time,” the statement form the Office of Management and Budget says in part.
“This landmark legislation is needed to protect the right to vote, ensure the integrity of our elections, and repair and strengthen American democracy,” it continues.
Read more of the White House statement:
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Election reform expert: Our democracy has major problems and this bill contains solutions
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
The so-called For the People Act contains solutions to pressing problems the United States’ democracy is facing, Daniel Weiner, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Election Reform program told CNN’s Ana Cabrera.
“A lot of the policies in HR-1 were pioneered by Republicans at the state level. So, it does that. It bans extreme partisan gerrymandering and it just contains some common sense reform for the campaign finance system that have been long overdue since Citizens United,” Weiner said.
Weiner noted how the bill is the only piece of legislation that can reverse a number of voter restriction laws passed in states across country, like in Georgia and Florida.
“In many, many instances the worst of those bills, it would reverse those laws. And this is the only bill pending that can do that. That is what is so important. And, again, this is a baseline standard of voting access for all Americans. Everyone. Republican, Democrat, it doesn’t matter your political affiliation. But that is critical right now. And that is what this bill would do and what is at stake,” he said.
