Faith leader: Democrats show up to fight 'with a butter knife'
01:20
Where things stand
Senate Democrats suffered a major defeat in their efforts to pass voting rights legislation after a vote to change filibuster rules in order to pass the bills failed.
The attempt came after Republicans once again blocked a voting rights bill put forward by Democrats in the latest partisan showdown over the issue.
Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted along with Republicans to oppose the filibuster rules change.
President Biden said he was “profoundly disappointed” by the Senate vote, but vowed to continue to fight for the right to vote.
Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the federal voting proposals here.
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Senate Democrats suffered a major defeat today on voting rights. Here are key things to know.
From CNN's Clare Foran, Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett,
Senate Democrats suffered a major defeat this evening in their efforts to pass voting rights legislation — a key issue for the party, which is under pressure to take action ahead of the midterm elections just months away.
Here are key things to know about what unfolded in the Senate today:
Today’s two votes: An attempt by Democrats to change filibuster rules in order to pass a voting bill failed amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The vote was 52-48, with the two moderates joining all GOP senators. After the vote failed, there was a loud round of applause from Republicans. Earlier in the day, the Senate failed to break a GOP filibuster on voting legislation that combines key provisions of two bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. At least 10 Republicans would have needed to vote with Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster, which was not expected to happen amid widespread Republican opposition to the voting legislation.
What the filibuster changes would have done: The proposed rules change — to allow for a “talking filibuster” on the legislation — would have forced lawmakers who want to filibuster the bill to come to the Senate floor and speak in opposition. Once those speeches come to an end, the Senate would be able to hold a simple majority vote for final passage. The move would effectively eliminate the 60-vote threshold set by the filibuster.
Manchin and Sinema’s position: Sinema released a statement Wednesday evening explaining why she opposed the change. The Arizona Democrat said that she maintained her longstanding opposition to “actions that would deepen our divisions and risk repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty and further eroding confidence in our government.” Manchin had said he would not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. In a speech before the votes Wednesday evening, Manchin warned against partisan division and argued that lawmakers must seek compromise even if it is challenging to do so.
What Republicans are saying: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday defended the Senate’s rule and said that Republicans would continue their track record of upholding the legislative filibuster, which he called the “essence of the Senate,” the next time they’re in the majority. “It’s pretty safe to say this is the biggest day in the history of the Senate,” McConnell said. The Kentucky Republican, without naming them, congratulated Manchin and Sinema for their “courage” and bearing in mind “that in the very near future the shoe might be on the other foot.”
Voting rights fight now shifts back to statehouses after Senate Democrats fail to advance legislation
From CNN's Eric Bradner
Just weeks from the first primaries of the 2022 midterm elections, the fight over voting rights is unfolding again at the state level — with Republicans in several swing states proposing new measures that would make it harder to vote.
Seizing on former President Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud, Republicans in statehouses across the country last year enacted a series of new laws limiting access to mail-in voting, imposing new identification requirements, narrowing early voting options and more. More legislation that would tack on additional restrictions is already under consideration in some states this year.
Democrats had long pinned their hopes of stopping that avalanche of restrictive voting laws on Capitol Hill, where the party hoped to use its House and Senate majorities to approve national voting rights legislation that would override those state laws. But Senate Democrats’ failure on Wednesday to change Senate rules to advance two major voting rights measures has all but erased Democrats’ hopes of federal intervention in time for this year’s elections.
Progressive and pro-voting rights groups vowed to continue fighting after the Senate’s vote failed Wednesday night.
“We are at a moment of reckoning in America. The Senate failed our democracy tonight,” said Eric Holder, the US attorney general during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“Anything short of protecting the right to vote is a death sentence for democracy. This fight is far from over,” said Derrick Johnson, the NAACP president.
Here's what the voting bills that failed in the Senate would have done
From CNN's Fredreka Schouten
The Senate failed to break a GOP filibuster on voting legislation that combines key provisions of two bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
The John Lewis bill, named for the late Georgia congressman, focuses on restoring the power of the federal government to oversee state voting procedures to prevent discrimination against minority voters. A pair of Supreme Court rulings have eroded the key portions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and this proposal would update the landmark law.
The Freedom to Vote Act is a more sweeping measure that would affect how Americans register to vote and cast their ballots.
In addition to making Election Day a federal holiday, it would:
Mandate that states that require voter identification accept a broader range of ID. It also allows a voter to submit a sworn statement from another adult attesting to the voter’s identity.
Allow voters to use ballot drop boxes, a method popularized in 2020 to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. About 41% of people who voted absentee in the 2020 election used drop boxes, according to the Pew Research Center. Lawmakers in several states, including Georgia, Florida and Iowa, have restricted their use. A new Georgia law, for instance, limits the number and location of drop boxes. In populous Fulton County, the number of drop boxes available to voters went from 38 in 2020 to eight in municipal elections last year. And a top Republican in the state has proposed banning their use altogether.
Establish nationwide vote-by-mail rules. Voters would not need an excuse — such as illness or travel — to vote by mail. Once voters opt to receive ballots by mail, they would remain on a permanent vote-by-mail list, unless they asked to be removed or were no longer eligible to vote in the state. This provision would counter new laws in states such as Florida, which now requires voters to request mail ballots every general election cycle or roughly every two years.
Allow people to register to vote and cast ballots at the same time. Twenty states and Washington, DC, already do so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. States also would have to make it easier to register to vote online.
Permit voter registration forms to also serve as absentee ballot applications, circumventing restrictions on mailing out absentee ballot applications to voters who didn’t specifically request them. Under a law enacted last year in Texas, election officials face jail time and up to $10,000 fines for soliciting the “submission of an application to vote by mail from a person who did not request an application.”
Require states to count provisional ballots as long as they are cast in the correct counties. Under Georgia’s voting law enacted in 2021, for instance, voters who show up at the wrong polling places before 5 p.m. on Election Day must travel to the correct locations to cast their ballots. During the 2020 election, 66% of provisional ballots accepted in Fulton County had come from voters casting ballots at the wrong precincts.
Allow third-party groups to give water and food to voters waiting in line to cast ballots — as long as they aren’t engaging in electioneering activities or otherwise trying to sway votes.
Restore federal voting rights to felons once they are released from prison. State laws vary widely on when people convicted of felonies can vote.
Rep. Clyburn: "Although the Senate's inaction is disappointing, this is not the end"
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, tweeted that the Senate’s failure to pass voting rights legislation is “disappointing” but that efforts are not over.
“Although the Senate’s inaction is disappointing, this is not the end,” he said.
See the tweet below:
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NAACP president: "Anything short of protecting the right to vote is a death sentence for democracy"
From CNN's Eva McKend
NAACP President Derick Johnson blasted the Senate’s failure to advance voting rights as a “shameful outcome.”
Though Johnson notes past civil rights efforts like the original 1965 Voting Rights Act took several attempts before it ultimately passed into law.
“Anything short of protecting the right to vote is a death sentence for democracy. This fight is far from over,” he says in a statement.
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s son: Manchin and Sinema "have let down the United States of America"
Martin Luther King III, speaks during a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at Union Station in Washington, DC on Monday.
(Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
In a statement tonight, Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., slammed moderate Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, saying “they have let down the United States of America. They were given countless opportunities to protect our most sacred franchise, but in the end, they sided with a Jim Crow relic over the voting rights of Black and Brown communities.”
He continued: “Despite this setback, we are going to keep fighting for voting rights legislation. This fight marks a new chapter in the King legacy and we will not accept failure. We have set extraordinary groundwork for change and the country will not let this fight end. Ending the filibuster is part of the national conversation in a way it’s never been before — people now know the filibuster is not etched in the Constitution, but rather a tool of suppression, and the voting rights secured by my father are under attack.”
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Schumer on voting rights: "We will not quit"
(Senate TV)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that Democrats would continue their fight against voter suppression despite suffering a major defeat today in their efforts pass voting rights legislation today.
“We will not quit,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
He continued: “Now that every senator has gone on record, the American people have seen who’s on the side of protecting voting rights and it will only strengthen our resolve as we work to ensure our democracy does not backslide. This vote is another step forward in the long march for universal voting rights. The Democratic caucus pledges to keep working until voting rights are protected for every American.”
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Sanders says Manchin and Sinema have "undermined" Biden and can expect 2024 primaries
From CNN's Ted Barrett and Manu Raju
Sen. Bernie Sanders called out his fellow Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, over their opposition to changing filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation.
“They have forced us to have five months of discussions that have gone absolutely nowhere,” he said.
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Harris on failed Senate vote on filibuster and voting rights: "The American people will not forget"
From CNN Brian Rokus
Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement on tonight’s Senate vote, saying about the freedom to vote: “today, Senators voted to preserve an arcane Senate procedure rather than secure that fundamental freedom. The American people will not forget this moment. Neither will history.”
She said the administration will continue to “fight to pass federal legislation to secure the right to vote.”
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Romney praises Sinema and Manchin for their "political courage" tonight
From CNN's Ali Zaslav
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, said that after the vote concluded, he told his colleague Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: “I respect your strength and character. Congratulations”
“Each case was an act of an extraordinary political courage, the likes of which I have not seen in my political career,” the senator said of moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Sinema’s votes.
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Biden: "Profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy"
From CNN Brian Rokus
President Biden issued a statement on tonight’s Senate vote, saying, “I am profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy.”
Biden vowed to continue to fight for voting rights.
“My Administration will never stop fighting to ensure that the heart and soul of our democracy — the right to vote — is protected at all costs. We will continue to work with allies to advance necessary legislation to protect the right to vote. And to push for Senate procedural changes that will protect the fundamental right to vote,” he said in the statement.
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Sinema reiterates opposition to eliminating filibuster, saying it would "deepen our divisions"
Moderate Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reiterated in a statement why she opposed the Senate rules change that would eliminate the filibuster.
“I also maintained my longstanding opposition to separate actions that would deepen our divisions and risk repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty and further eroding confidence in our government,” Sinema said in a statement after Senate Democrats failed in their effort to use the “nuclear option” to change filibuster rules.
The Arizona senator along with Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, were the only Democrats to vote the rules change.
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Democrats fail to use "nuclear option" to change Senate filibuster rules to pass voting legislation
From CNN's Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav
Senate Democrats failed in their effort to use the “nuclear option” to change filibuster rules to allow for a “talking filibuster” on the voting legislation that Republicans blocked earlier this evening.
The vote was 52-48 with moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voting with Republicans. After the vote failed, there was a loud round of applause from Republicans.
The proposed rules change would force lawmakers who want to filibuster the bill to come to the Senate floor and speak in opposition.
Once those speeches come to an end, the Senate would be able to hold a simple majority vote for final passage. The move would effectively eliminate the 60-vote threshold set by the filibuster.
It had been expected to fail due to opposition from Manchin and Sinema.
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Senate voting now on "nuclear option" for rules change on filibuster
From CNN's Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav
(Senate TV)
The Senate is now holding a vote to attempt to change filibuster rules to allow for a “talking filibuster” on the voting legislation that Republicans just blocked.
The proposed rules change would force lawmakers who want to filibuster the bill to come to the Senate floor and speak in opposition. Once those speeches come to an end, the Senate would be able to hold a simple majority vote for final passage. The move would effectively eliminate the 60-vote threshold set by the filibuster.
The vote is expected to fail due to opposition from moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
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Harris on Senate GOP blocking voting legislation: "This is a historic night"
(Pool)
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke after Republicans blocked Democrats’ voting legislation, calling it a “historic night.”
“This is about the fundamental freedom to vote and what should unfettered access to the ballot. I am here to make a strong statement that this is, whatever happens tonight from the outcome of this vote, the President and I are not going to give up on this issue. This is fundamental to our democracy and it’s non-negotiable.”
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Senate Republicans block voting rights legislation
(Senate TV)
Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempt to pass a bill on voting rights legislation.
The legislation combined key provisions of two bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
At least 10 Republicans needed to vote with Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster, which did not happen amid widespread Republican opposition.
Next lawmakers will vote to change filibuster rules, which is expected to fail.
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NOW: Senate voting to attempt to break GOP filibuster on voting legislation
From CNN's Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav
The Senate is voting now to attempt to break a GOP filibuster of voting legislation that combines key provisions of two bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Senate Republicans are expected to block it. At least 10 Republicans would need to vote with Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster, which will not happen amid widespread Republican opposition to the voting legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that if Republicans block the bill, he will hold a vote to change Senate rules to allow for a “talking filibuster” on the voting legislation and lower the threshold to break the filibuster from 60 votes to 51 votes.
That vote, which is expected to fail due to opposition from Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, is expected sometime later this evening, but has not yet been scheduled.
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Harris arrives on Capitol Hill to preside over voting rights debate
From CNN's Ali Zaslav, Manu Raju, Lauren Fox and Ted Barrett
Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived on Capitol Hill to preside over tonight’s debate on the Freedom to Vote Act.
As she entered the Capitol, Harris was asked if the elections would be illegitimate if the voting bills didn’t pass.
“Let’s get these bills passed before we have that conversation,” Harris told CNN.
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Here's when a Senate vote on voting rights legislation could happen tonight
From CNN's Lauren Fox and Jessica Dean
Senate Minority Whip John Thune warned that it is likely a vote on voting rights legislation will slip into the 7 p.m. ET hour given the number of speeches and the fact that senators are going over their allotted speaking time.
He predicted somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET.
The vote is now expected around 7:45 p.m. ET per the Senate media gallery.
A vote on the rules change would happen after that.
The latest guidance from CNN’s Hill team is in 11 p.m. ET hour.
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Romney blasts Democrats for attacking their own members on filibuster
From CNN's Lauren Fox
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah who has voted against his own leadership during momentous votes, told CNN that he has been surprised by Democratic members’ attacks of their own members as the filibuster fight has intensified.
He said Sen. Joe Manchin is the “only” Democrat who could even get elected in West Virginia.
Other Republicans also applauded Manchin’s speech in which he defended the filibuster.
“You don’t see too many displays of true political courage around here, but I think both of them demonstrated with their speeches in the last few days that they get what is at stake and they are willing to put their political viability and futures on the line for it,” Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said.
Some context: Manchin warned against partisan division in a speech earlier Wednesday evening as Democrats press ahead to an expected vote to change Senate filibuster rules in an attempt to pass voting legislation.
The West Virginia Democrat has repeatedly said he will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster, which sets a 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, creating an obstacle for his party as Senate Democrats push for a rules change.
CNN’s Clare Foran, Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett contributed reporting to this post.
