There is a gnawing anxiety among voting-rights advocates that even if Democrats find a way to roll back the Senate filibuster and pass new federal legislation safeguarding access to the ballot, the Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court might still strike it down. Last week’s Supreme Court ruling, in which […] Read more »
What’s keeping democracy experts up most at night? An overturned election
Congress is just beginning a new investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, but the movement behind it remains as active as ever. … There’s no legal avenue for Trump to reverse the 2020 results. But a half-dozen scholars who study democracy and election laws told NBC News […] Read more »
The Only Way to Save Voting Rights
Today’s Supreme Court decision further weakening the Voting Rights Act affirmed that the only way Democrats can reverse the wave of restrictive voting laws in GOP-controlled states is to pass new federal voting rights by curtailing the Senate filibuster. Congressional action has long seemed the only realistic lever for Democrats […] Read more »
Joe Manchin is trying to outrun a realignment
… If Manchin acted and voted like a garden-variety Democratic senator, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) could enact much of Biden’s agenda. But Manchin won’t permit that — and the reason turns on home-state politics. Unlike almost all other Senate Democrats, he’s trying to outrun a decades-long realignment in […] Read more »
House Republicans have two critical advantages in 2022
… We live in an era of bitter, closely divided elections. And in 2022, Republicans have two advantages that might soon give them the edge in the House. The Republicans’ first advantage: The other party holds the White House. If Biden follows the path of other recent presidents, he’ll spend […] Read more »
Thomas Edsall on the new ‘anti-democratic party,’ and the challenges for the media
New York Times contributing op-ed writer Thomas Edsall warns about Republicans attempting to enforce “white political dominance;” anti-democratic trends in American politics; and the blind spots he sees in media coverage. “Trump and the Republican Party have created a real dilemma for the media,” he tells Brian Stelter. “When you […] Read more »