With 2 senators appearing immovable, and with the GOP overwhelmingly opposed to the 2 bills, the measures are likely to fail. The Senate showdown is less a legislative strategy to pass the bills and more a political strategy to show voters that they tried.
The debate kicked off Tuesday, with Democrats using a loophole in the 60-vote rule to begin considering the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. But there is no such loophole to end debate and proceed to a final vote unless Democrats change the rules.
Schumer added: "And if Republicans choose to continue their filibuster of voting rights legislation, we must consider — and vote on — the rule changes that are appropriate and necessary to restore the Senate and make voting rights legislation possible." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday afternoon Democrats are leaning toward voting on the "talking filibuster," which would require all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to vote to change the rules.
The debate on the measures is expected to continue into Wednesday or Thursday. Once it ends, the Senate will vote on a motion to end debate and move to a final vote on the bills. That motion is expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster., Democrats and civil rights allies continued their push on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"Nobody is asking you to give up the filibuster. And I wish they would stop saying that," he said on MSNBC. "We're asking you to do for voting rights and constitutional rights the same thing that you've done for the budget."
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