Joe Biden suffered a significant setback on Tuesday as one of his top priorities, a set of reforms to protect voting rights and shore up American democracy, was defeated in Congress.
With Vice-president Kamala Harris presiding, a Senate procedural vote on whether to start debate on sweeping election legislation ended as expected in a 50-50 stalemate along party lines. Sixty votes had been required to overcome Republicans’ use of a procedural tool known as the filibuster, in effect killing the bill.
“Every single Senate Republican just voted against starting debate – starting debate! – on legislation to protect Americans’ voting rights,” Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, said angrily. “Once again, the Senate Republican minority has launched a partisan blockade of a pressing issue here in the United States Senate. An issue no less fundamental than the right to vote.”
The near 900-page For the People Act had represented a significant overhaul of voting and election law that the White House has described as a “cause” for Biden. It was seen as a crucial counterweight to hundreds of voting bills introduced by Republican-controlled states, many of which include measures that would make it harder for Black people, young people and poor people to vote. Fourteen states had enacted 22 of these laws by mid-May, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Former president Barack Obama warned supporters on a call this week: “We can’t wait until the next election because if we have the same kinds of shenanigans that brought about [the insurrection on] 6 January, if we have that for a couple more election cycles, we’re going to have real problems in terms of our democracy long-term.”
Progressives have accused Biden of failing to use his bully pulpit to champion the sweeping legislation. Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the grassroots movement Indivisible, tweeted: “OK I have reached my WTF moment with Biden on this. Is saving democracy a priority for this administration or not?” The White House defended Biden’s efforts, with press secretary Jen Psaki telling reporters that “it will be a fight of his presidency long past today” and “he will continue to use the bully pulpit but also every lever in government to continue to advocate for moving forward”.
