Democrats and civil-rights advocates were devastated when Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema blocked a change in Senate rules last night and allowed a Republican filibuster to kill crucial voting-rights legislation. But for activists, the long battle over voter protections hasn’t been entirely in vain: It’s fundamentally changed the center of […] Read more »
Voting rights or the filibuster?
It’s neither a bumper sticker nor a rallying cry, but it’s a fact: One cannot claim loyalty to the text, history and principles of our Constitution while valuing preservation of the filibuster above protecting voting rights. … Writing for a Supreme Court majority, no less a conservative than Justice Antonin […] Read more »
CBS News poll analysis: Who wants to end or keep the filibuster?
Even as many Democrats tend to rank the economy, inflation and COVID-19 among top issues, most Democrats do say it is also “very important” to pass a voting rights bill, and two-thirds of Americans overall say it’s at least somewhat important, as this week’s CBS News poll showed. Meanwhile, a […] Read more »
With help from Manchin and Sinema, a Republican revolution from below is driving national policy
Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country are approving a wave of new voting restrictions on virtually party-line votes that require only a simple majority to pass. The US Supreme Court has likewise decided the key voting rights rulings that helped trigger this surge of state legislation on a party-line, majority-vote […] Read more »
How Manchin and Sinema Completed a Conservative Vision
The decision by Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to block their fellow Democrats from passing new federal voting-rights legislation clears the path for years of tightening ballot restrictions in Republican-controlled states. It also marks a resounding triumph for Chief Justice John Roberts in his four-decade quest to roll back […] Read more »
Five myths about the filibuster
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has thrown down the gauntlet, saying he will move to change Senate rules by Jan. 17 if Republicans continue to block the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Because of the filibuster, neither can be enacted without 60 votes […] Read more »