Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) remarks on the chamber floor Tuesday morning all but officially signed the death certificate for Democrats' sweeping election reform bill, the For The People Act.
The upper chamber, McConnell claims, is no obstacle to voting laws "done the right way." Only when the "policy is flawed and the process is rotten" might the Senate stand in a bill's path — which, he claims, is the job of the legislative body.
Therefore "today, the Senate's going to fulfill our founding purpose, stop the partisan power grab, and reject S.1," McConnell asserts.
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.
The Senate will vote later Tuesday on whether to open debate on voting rights legislation, but needing 60 votes to overcome the chamber's filibuster rule, Democrats are unlikely to garner the 10 Republican votes needed to proceed. McConnell has previously signaled GOP opposition to the bill, even after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) issued an updated proposal intended as a step toward bipartisan compromise.
Watch a clip of McConnell's comments below:
-
A crowded field of Democrats is filling up the California governor’s raceIn the Spotlight Over a dozen Democrats have declared their candidacy
-
Nitazene is elusively raising opioid deathsThe explainer The drug is usually consumed accidentally
-
Can medical debt hurt your credit?The explainer The short answer is yes, though it depends on the credit scoring mode
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
