Schumer says GOP 'afraid' to debate voting reform bill as Manchin sticks with Democrats


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
'Every parent's nightmare'
Today's Newspapers A round-up of the headlines from the UK front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Squirrel kebabs on London menu
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 28 September 2023
The Week’s daily digest of the news agenda, published at 8am
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biden creates White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Speed Read The office will be led by Vice President Kamala Harris
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Rishi Sunak lambasts China after allegations of spy in UK Parliament
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Judge denies Mark Meadows' request to move Georgia case to federal court
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson dies at 75
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Clarence Thomas officially discloses trips from billionaire GOP donor
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Judge schedules Trump federal election plot trial for crowded March 2024
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin ally-turned-rival, presumed dead in plane crash
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published