VOTING RIGHTS FIGHT-With dozens of Republican-authored voter suppression measures advancing through state legislatures across the country, progressive advocacy groups are imploring Democratic lawmakers to stop dragging their feet and immediately abolish the Senate rule that is obstructing an ambitious plan to shield the franchise from the GOP s onslaught.
(Photo above: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (Photo: Samuel Corum-Pool/Getty Images) Starting right now, Democrats have a once in a generation opportunity to go big and renew faith in the government’s ability to get real things done. What are they waiting for?
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly said that the Senate filibuster "certainly should be lifted for constitutional matters" during an unreleased podcast appearance, adding that "I
Clinton told Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for her 2016 presidential campaign, that the filibuster “stands in the way of a lot of legislation, and whether or not it can be either reformed or eliminated is what we will find out in the next few weeks.” It certainly should be lifted for constitutional matters, and I would put election law matters at the top of that list, Clinton said on an episode of Palmieri’s podcast, “Just Something About Her,” published on Thursday.
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The current filibuster rules require 60 votes in the Senate to move forward with legislation. Calls for nixing the procedural tool have gained steam recently among Democratic lawmakers, and President Biden
Spooked McConnell Threatens âScorched Earthâ To Protect Filibuster
As momentum grows to eliminate a tool Republicans have used over the years to kill overwhelmingly popular legislation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday threatened to make the Senate into an unbearably slow and hostile work environment as retribution. Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin, can even
begin to imagine what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like, the Kentucky senator declared in a speech on the Senate floor, referring to what he d do if Democrats repealed the filibuster, the extended debating tactic that makes it possible for the chamber s minority to block legislation. Invocation of cloture, a move to limit the debate, requires a total of 60 votes to be adopted.