Is Trump Losing Control of the GOP?
Democrats' Attempt to Push Voting Rights Bills Through the Senate are Good for McConnell -- Analysis by Todd Lassa
The cliche’ that seems to work best to describe President Biden’s Atlanta speech and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) response is “snake eating its own tail.”
Biden jawbones the public on a couple of voter rights bills, H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and require Justice Department clearance of election law changes in former Confederate states including Georgia, and its somewhat watered-down counterpart, H.R. 1, the For the People Act.
Democrats want at least H.R. 1 passed to stem expected loss of a majority in the House, and probably in the Senate this year, but also to quell Donald J. Trump’s threat to run for the GOP presidential nomination again in 2024, and address some states’ new voting laws that could give partisan leaders power to overturn Electoral College votes.
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Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he plans to carry out Biden’s wishes by changing filibuster rules to allow simple majority votes on H.R. 4 and H.R. 1 (already passed by the House) by next Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) quickly sent a message to Biden, Schumer and especially Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) Tuesday with the threat to clog the Senate with more than a dozen GOP bills using Rule XIV. Among these are bills to block vaccine mandates and White House fracking bans, McConnell told The Wall Street Journal. He made his warnings yesterday on the Senate floor, while standing in front of a placard quoting the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s defense of the legislative filibuster’s effect of assuring minority political voices are heard.
Yes, Sen. Byrd, the Democrat from West Virginia, whom Manchin replaced.
McConnell flexes his considerable political muscles, proving he is as powerful as Manchin, a couple of months after the Republican leader’s relationship with Trump hit rock-bottom. Trump, you might recall, called McConnell an “old crow” last November after the minority leader praised Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill (which was similar to a failed infrastructure proposal Trump put forth while he was president – but never mind).
If all this isn’t enough for McConnell to wrest party control from the ex-president, consider this: The one piece of election reform gaining bipartisan support on Capitol Hill is a rewrite of the Electoral College Act of 1887. While no specific changes to the Act have been floated, they surely will restrict the ability of partisan state officials to overturn voters’ Electoral College will.