{"id":477847,"date":"2022-01-20T17:21:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T17:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=90184212e76b7b52616985b4bc23a3ae"},"modified":"2022-01-20T17:21:45","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T17:21:45","slug":"voting-rights-legislation-filibuster-changes-fail-to-pass-in-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/20\/voting-rights-legislation-filibuster-changes-fail-to-pass-in-the-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting Rights Legislation, Filibuster Changes Fail to Pass in the Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Sens.<\/a>

Federal voting rights legislation died in the Senate on Wednesday night after Democrats failed to unite their caucus behind a plan to change the filibuster rule, which would have allowed them to circumvent GOP opposition to the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Had a simple majority vote been allowed to advance the bill, <\/span>its passage would have undoubtedly been successful<\/span><\/a>. But Republicans blocked the voting rights bill using the filibuster, which enables 40 senators to block any piece of legislation they disagree with.<\/span><\/p>\n

All 50 members of the Senate Republican Caucus voted against the legislation. In order for the bill to overcome a filibuster, at least 10 GOP senators would have had to vote for cloture.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the voting rights legislation failed to pass, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) moved to change the rules of the filibuster, proposing that it be replaced with a “talking filibuster” that would have required lawmakers to speak non-stop on the Senate floor in order for it to be sustained. But that measure failed after two right-wing Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) voted against the proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement after her vote<\/span><\/a>, Sinema claimed that any changes to the filibuster rule \u2014 including a modest change like returning to the “talking filibuster” \u2014 would “deepen our divisions and risk repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty and further eroding confidence in our government.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The two senators were condemned for prioritizing so-called political unity when voting rights were on the line. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Reverting to Jim Crow-like restrictions is not acceptable in 2022,\u201d <\/span>Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) wrote on Twitter. <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s not lose sight of the issue at hand: This is about ordinary Americans having to jump burdensome hurdles to cast their votes,” he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) vowed that she and her congressional colleagues would continue fighting to protect the right to vote for all Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Tonight, 52 Senators chose to save the Jim Crow filibuster rather than save our democracy,” <\/span>Pressley said<\/span><\/a>. “We won’t stop fighting to defend voting rights and keep power in the hands of the people.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to both votes on Wednesday, the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina), led House members of the Congressional Black Caucus to the Senate chambers to demonstrate the need for voting rights legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Today, @TheBlackCaucus<\/a> marched to the entry of the Senate floor to call upon them to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and send this critical legislation to the President\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

The time is now. pic.twitter.com\/5HHNSx0IiS<\/a><\/p>\n

— James E. Clyburn (@WhipClyburn) January 19, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n