Backers of the legislation said they were not giving up as they shifted focus to the need to “restore” the Senate.
Senate Democrats crashed once again on Wednesday into the seemingly impenetrable Republican wall blocking new voting rights legislation, leaving them with a simple question: Now what? If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now abundantly clear that no voting legislation will advance without changes in Senate rules to overcome blanket opposition from Republicans who have filibustered it three times. Republicans who see new voting restrictions being imposed around the country as playing to their electoral benefit are in no mood to bend on a Democratic proposal that might erase some of that advantage. Not a single Republican joined Democrats in trying to bring up a measure to bolster voting rights. The 50-50 tie left Democrats at least 10 votes short of breaking the filibuster and cast deep doubt on the future of the measure. But Democrats, confronted with a level of Republican intractability they say puts at risk the very future of democracy — not to mention their own political parity — remained determined to find a way forward and enact some version of their bill. Under mounting pressure from progressive activists who are growing agitated with the inability of President Biden and Democratic leaders to deliver on their highest priorities, they see throwing in the towel as unacceptable. “We have all Democrats on board, and we are not going to let this drop,” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia. The quandary for Democrats is that while every senator aligned with their party supports the compromise elections measure, at least two of them — Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — have said repeatedly that they will not support any effort to undermine the filibuster. Mr. Manchin’s opposition in particular led Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, to make his latest failed attempt at breaking through the Republican blockade. Mr. Schumer had tasked Mr. Manchin with brokering a compromise voting rights bill and then shopping it to Republicans in hopes of winning some bipartisan backing, in line with the West Virginian’s oft-stated belief that the filibuster fosters the kind of deal-making that yields broadly supported policy.
