The powerful Republican and Democratic Senate leaders faced off in a rare and tense exchange at the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday as Sena...
The powerful Republican and Democratic Senate leaders faced off in a rare and tense exchange at the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow Republicans led an all-out assault on sweeping voting rights legislation.
Republicans are planning to offer a slew of amendments forcing Democrats to take politically awkward votes spotlighting the increasingly charged national debate over access to ballots.
The measure would bring about the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation, touching on almost every aspect of the electoral process – and comes as Republicans are pushing a series of state laws to restrict absentee ballots, and drop-boxes and other voting methods.
McConnell, a longtime opponent of campaign finance reform legislation, personally appeared at the Rules hearing on the legislation to blast the measure – a demonstration of how the issue is motivating Republicans as well.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks during a Senate Rules Committee hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday
'We'll hear a lot of flowery language today,' said McConnell. 'But we all learned early in life if you can write the rules, you can win the game,' said McConnell, himself an expert in the use of arcane Senate procedure to score political wins.
'Why are Democrats so hell bent on doing whatever it takes to rewire our democracy on a thoroughly partisan basis?' asked McConnell, who successfully pushed through the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the weeks before the November elections.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fumed that the bill 'dilutes the legal votes of American citizens.'
He said: 'This bill doesn't protect voting rights. It steals voting rights from the American people.'
His slam came after a voting bill that moved through the GOP legislature in his home state of Texas drew criticism for mentioning the 'purity of the ballot box' – a phrase that drew comparisons to the all-white primaries of the Jim Crow era. The language was dropped form the bill that passed the Texas House on Friday.
Republicans will offer scores of amendments to highlight aspects of the bill they believe are unpopular, including the creation of a public financing system for political campaigns, an overhaul of the federal agency that polices elections and dozens of provisions that would dictate how states conduct their elections.
The early skirmish in the Senate comes as states including Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Texas are pushing new voting rules, spurred by former President Donald Trump's false claims about election fraud after his 2020 loss.
Democrats are on defense, having been unable to halt the onslaught of new state rules that will take months or years to litigate in court. That leaves passage of legislation through Congress as one of the few remaining options to counteract the GOP efforts.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Rosen, who served as the top Justice Department official for the last month of the Trump administration, plans to tell the Congress DOJ 'had been presented with no evidence of widespread at a scale sufficient to change the outcome of the 2020 election,' the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz fumed that the bill 'dilutes the legal votes of American citizens
'These bills moving in state capitals across America are not empty threats, they are real efforts to stop people from voting,' said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee.
Democrats consider the measure, which will meet a certain GOP filibuster in the Senate, as an important test – and in theory it could provoke efforts to try to blow up the legislative filibuster altogether if Democrats remain unified.
Republicans argue the new state rules are needed to clamp down on mail ballots and other methods that became popular during the pandemic, but critics warn the states are seeking to reduce voter access, particularly for Black voters, ushering in a new Jim Crow era for the 21st century.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, spoke about the crosscurrents of the legislation that could have an outcome on elections themselves.
'I don't want the federal government taking over our elections and prescribing every jot and tittle of the law in the state of Maine or Missouri or Minnesota or Texas,' he said. 'But I do think there's a place for the federal government to establish a floor.'
There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Trump´s claims were rejected by Republican and Democratic election officials in state after state, by U.S. cybersecurity officials and by courts up to the U.S. Supreme Court. And his attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of fraud that could change the election outcome.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also spoke during the Rules panel meeting to add his weight to the debate, excoriating Republicans for embracing Trump's false claims about the election.
'President Trump told a big lie, one of the biggest ever told. We all know that. every single person in this room knows that,' Schumer said. 'And it´s taking root, this big lie is taking root in our country, not just in the minds of his voters but in the laws of the land.'
President Joe Biden has said the federal bill would 'restore the soul of America' by giving everyone equal access to the vote.
Known as the For the People Act, the legislation was given top billing on the Democratic agenda, but the path ahead is unclear. Moderate members of the Democratic caucus - not just Republicans - pose a sizable obstacle to the bill becoming law.
Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have both said they oppose making changes to the Senate´s filibuster rules, which would be needed to maneuver the bill past Republican opposition and pass it with a simple majority in a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris delivering the tiebreaking 51st vote.
Manchin has called for any elections overhaul to be done on a bipartisan basis. Other Democrats want to pare back the bill to core voting protections to try to put Republicans on the spot.
Both Manchin and Sinema were getting face time with President Joe Biden this week, as their votes are also vital to passing the president's infrastructure plan. Manchin came to the White House on Monday, while Sinema was to do so on Tuesday, according to the White House.
House resolution H.R. 1, and its companion, S. 1, in the Senate have been in the works for several years. As passed by the House in March, the legislation would create automatic voter registration nationwide, require states to offer 15 days of early voting, require more disclosure from political donors and restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, among other changes. It would also compel states to offer no-excuse absentee voting.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a Senate Rules Committee hearing at the Capitol
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a Senate Rules Committee hearing at the Capitol in Washington
It would force the disclosure of donors to 'dark money' political groups, which are a magnet for wealthy interests looking to influence the political process while remaining anonymous.
Democrats have been making their own changes to the bill to draw support.
In the latest version of the legislation, states would have more time and flexibility to put new federal rules in place. Some election officials had complained of unrealistic timelines, increased costs and onerous requirements.
States would have more time to launch same-day voter registration at polling places and to comply with new voting system requirements. They would also be able to apply for an extension if they were unable to meet the deadline for automatic voter registration. Officials have said these are complex processes that require equipment changes or upgrades that will take time.
Democrats are also dropping a requirement that local election offices provide self-sealing envelopes with mail ballots and cover the costs of return postage. They plan to require the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail ballots and ballot request forms free of charge, with the federal government picking up the tab.
But Republicans fired back that the changes would do little to limit what they view as unwarranted federal intrusions into local elections.
'Giving states more time to implement bad policy doesn´t make the policy less bad,' said Sen Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the ranking minority member on the committee. 'I think the federal government taking over elections is the wrong thing to do.'
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