Mitch McConnell defends likely Republican filibuster of Senate voting rights debate

published 22 June 2021

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.

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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.

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.

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