Democrats Ponder Plan B on Voting Rights

“Senate Democrats are scrambling for a Plan B to pass voting rights legislation after Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced last week that they would not vote to change the Senate’s filibuster rule despite the pleading of President Joe Biden,” The Hill reports.

“Now some Democrats are discussing a novel approach to circumventing a Republican filibuster that may allow voting rights legislation to pass with 51 votes without changing the Senate’s rules.”

“These Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), are exploring the possibility of forcing Senate Republicans to actually hold the floor with speeches and procedural motions.”

Punchbowl News: “It’s unclear what Schumer is planning. He’s promised a cloture vote on the voting-rights bill, and if that fails – it will thanks to unified GOP opposition to the legislation – then Schumer has vowed to hold a vote on changing Senate rules on the filibuster. What changes he will suggest are unclear. Schumer could move to eliminate the filibuster outright or modify the process to make filibustering more difficult.”