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| Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters |
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday that the chamber would debate eliminating the filibuster in the coming weeks if Republicans refuse to join Democrats in passing sweeping voting legislation.
While the filibuster was designed to empower the minority party in the Senate, Schumer argued that it now serves to “embarrass the will of the majority,” against the founders’ intentions for legislative procedure. He claimed that Republicans should not be allowed to block the Freedom to Vote Act, using the vehicle of the filibuster, that only further enshrines and expands the American right to vote.
Schumer has previously expressed support for altering the filibuster but the statement is his strongest in favor of the idea.
“We must adapt. The Senate must evolve, like it has many times before. The Senate was designed to evolve and has evolved many times in our history,” Schumer wrote. “As former Senator Robert Byrd famously said, Senate Rules ‘must be changed to reflect changed circumstances.’ Put more plainly by Senator Byrd, ‘Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past.'”
“The fight for the ballot is as old as the Republic. Over the coming weeks, the Senate will once again consider how to perfect this union and confront the historic challenges facing our democracy. We hope our Republican colleagues change course and work with us. But if they do not, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: free and fair elections,” he added. --->READ MORE HERE
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday that he will force a vote by Jan. 17 on changing the Senate's rules if Republicans again block voting rights legislation.
"The fight for the ballot is as old as the Republic. Over the coming weeks, the Senate will once again consider how to perfect this union and confront the historic challenges facing our democracy," Schumer wrote in a letter sent to the Senate Democratic Caucus.
"We hope our Republican colleagues change course and work with us. But if they do not, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: free and fair elections," he added.
Republicans have used the 60-vote legislative filibuster to block voting rights and election reforms bills over the past year, arguing that they are a federal overreach. But Schumer, in a separate letter to the caucus last month, vowed to bring up voting legislation and force a debate on changing the filibuster.
Schumer's new timeline, outlined in Monday's letter, comes as the Senate is returning to Washington this week after leaving in mid-December without a deal on the path forward for voting rights legislation.
Democrats view voting rights and legislation to overhaul elections and campaign finance as crucial as GOP-led states debate and enact new voting rules. And in a signal of an argument likely to be echoed by Democrats this week, Schumer used his Monday letter to the caucus to link voting rights legislation to the quickly approaching anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
Schumer tries to jump-start Dems with rules change threat
Schumer threatens to blow up Senate filibuster if GOP continues to block partisan voting overhaul
Schumer vows doomed Senate filibuster rule change vote by MLK Day
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