For voting-rights advocates, any evidence of progress is good news, and Manchin taking a constructive approach jolted the larger debate.
For congressional Democrats, no proposal is more important than the For the People Act, a sweeping proposal to bolster our democracy and protect voting rights. Party leaders gave the legislation a specific bill designation — H.R.1 in the House, S.1 in the Senate — as a symbolic move to stress its significance. It was against this backdrop that President Biden recently delivered Memorial Day remarks describing democracy as the ” soul of America ” that all of us must fight to protect. The president soon after called for June to be “a month of action on Capitol Hill,” specifically on the issue of voting rights. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told members that they should be prepared to vote before the end of the month on the For the People Act, which he said is “essential to defending our democracy.” It’s a sentiment Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has been reluctant to endorse. Of the 50 senators in the Democratic caucus,49 of them are co-sponsors of the proposal — everyone except the conservative West Virginian. Earlier this month, Congress’ most conservative Democrat announced that his party’s top legislative priority would die by his hand: Manchin wrote an op-ed saying he would not vote for S.
