Voting Rights Bill Blocked in Senate, White House Vows to Press On

Last night, Senate Republicans blocked the voting rights bill during a key test vote. A procedural vote to open debate on the bill was defeated by a 50-50 vote falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance it. Democrats were united in favor of the bill while Republicans were against it. Democratic Senators have pushed the legislation as a way to counter efforts by individual states to restrict voting access following the 2020 elections. Republicans have called their push a partisan power grab and a federal overreach into state voting and election systems.

Yesterday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said making it easier for people to vote will be a priority for Biden’s entire presidency and that the White House will use every level of government moving forward to expand ballot access. The White House has yet to lay out any specific plans for what comes next. Last month the President predicted that June would be a ‘month of action’ on capitol hill and pledged to advocate for the ‘For the People Act’. He has assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the charge on voting rights though she has yet to take steps on the matter.