Senate Republicans Are Poised to Block a Sweeping Elections and Ethics Bill. Now What?

By Susan Davis and Rachel Treisman, NPR

22 June 21

 

he U.S. Senate will vote today on new election rules, in the form of a Democratic-led proposal called the For the People Act.

The bill, which passed the House in March, would make sweeping changes to the voting process and many aspects of campaign finance and ethics laws.

Democrats consider it such a high priority that they made it Senate Bill 1, the first of the year. Republican lawmakers are calling it a power play, even though many red states are enacting new voting requirements of their own.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat who supports the bill, acknowledges that voting is generally a state issue but says it’s important to set federal standards for things like increasing access to the polls and transparency in campaign finance.

“If we’re going to have a democracy that works, we need to have the voices at the polls from everybody, not just a select few,” he said. Listen to his interview with Steve Inskeep.

The bill is all but destined to fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. So what happens next? More on that here, and key takeaways below.

What would this bill do? A lot. Some examples: expand voter registration options as well as mail-in and early voting, require more disclosure for political advertisements and donations, set new ethics requirements for Supreme Court justices, require presidential candidates to disclose up to 10 years of their tax returns, and charge independent commissions with congressional redistricting.

Why are Republicans opposed? They say the bill would exert more federal control over elections; indeed, some of its provisions would likely be challenged in court. They also point to the record turnout of the 2020 election, and the fact that the ultimate vote count was not in doubt, to argue that barriers to voting don't need such a sweeping remedy.

Is compromise possible? Unlikely. Democrats see voting rights as a fundamental issue and are reluctant to budge on most major provisions of the bill. This legislation was first drafted by Democrats without any Republican input during the Trump era, in large part to address what Democrats saw as abuses of power. Republicans believe Democrats are using the legislation to give their party an edge in future elections and argue many of the provisions are constitutionally questionable.

What does this mean for the filibuster? The White House said this week that Democrats may revisit filibuster rules if the vote fails, though the party still lacks unanimous support for eliminating it.

If you want to learn more, our congressional correspondent Susan Davis offers details here.