Facing pressure from the outside and an emotional week ahead, Senate Democrats are reportedly looking to "supercharge" stalled voting rights legislation, perhaps even using the Capitol riot anniversary to convince filibuster old guard Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to embrace legislative rule changes, Politico and The Hill report.
Sixty organizations appealed to Senate Democrats in a Monday letter to reform the filibuster and thus advance voting rights legislation that's been repeatedly thwarted by the 60-vote threshold required for most bills, writes The Hill. In the letter, the organizations argue that the December debt ceiling debacle — in which Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "struck a deal to set up a one-time exemption to the 60-vote legislative filibuster," per The Hill — shows how lawmakers can circumvent the vexing threshold.
"Just as we needed to extend the debt limit to avoid economic calamity, we need to pass federal democracy and voting legislation to safeguard our democracy," reads the letter, led by pro-reform group Fix Our Senate.
Additionally, the U.S. Conference of Mayors will also release on Monday a bipartisan letter calling for the Senate to pass voting rights legislation.
Meanwhile, per Politico, Schumer and fellow Democrats are expected to argue this week that the increase in voting restrictions nationwide are a "direct result of the Jan. 6 riots and the Big Lie promulgated by former President Donald Trump," Politico writes. And though it will likely get filibustered by Republicans, Schumer is reportedly poised to bring a voting rights protections bill to the floor in the coming days.
But by tying the voting rights push and subsequent filibuster rule changes to the Capitol riot, Democrats are hopeful they can eventually win reform support from both Sinema and Manchin, even if Schumer's initial bill goes down.