fightin words
Schumer says GOP 'afraid' to debate voting reform bill as Manchin sticks with Democrats
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republican senators will block a debate on Democrats' election reform to prevent a "partisan power grab," but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) thinks his GOP colleagues are just scared.
The GOP, Schumer said Tuesday, doesn't "even want to debate it because they're afraid. They want to deny the right to vote, make it harder to vote for so many Americans, and they don't even want to talk about it. They want to sweep it under the rug and hope Americans don't hear about it."
Schumer was likely glad to hear that his words didn't apply to a member of his own party, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.). Manchin opposes the Senate's bill as it stands, but he does support several voting reform measures and announced Tuesday that he'll stick with his fellow Democrats for now by voting to move the process forward, even though he can't change the outcome.