Senate Republicans block debate on voting rights legislation

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked debate on the For the People Act, what would have been the most sweeping voting rights legislation in decades.

The vote was split 50-50, with 60 votes necessary to start debate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the "partisan blockade" and said while "Republicans may want to avoid the topic, hoping that their party's efforts to suppress votes and defend the big lie will go unnoticed. Democrats will not allow it. Democrats will never let voter suppression get swept under the rug."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.