Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

President Joe Biden has made voting rights reform a centerpiece of his administration, calling them a moral imperative and pushing for reform, especially in the wake of the 2020 election. Two pieces of voting rights legislation have recently failed, which altered the democratic legislations path from voting rights reform to altering the filibuster in the Senate. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were the two bills that were scheduled to be voted on, but they were filibustered and the Democrats did not have the 60 vote threshold required to move on with a vote. 

Currently, when a bill is filibustered in the Senate, it takes a 60 vote majority to move forward with voting on the legislation. Due to the 50/50 split in the Senate, 10 Republicans have to side with the Democrats in order to move forward on anything that is filibustered; the same is true for GOP-sponsored legislation that faces a filibuster. All fifty Republicans stood in opposition to the voting rights bill, making this a partisan issue on election reform. 

This caused the Democratic party to shift to filibuster reform, with Democrats attempting to modify the filibuster. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat for Minnesota stated, “We’re simply talking about restoring the Senate to what it once was, so we can have debates and we can actually vote on bills.” The current ineffectiveness of the Senate is something that often comes under scrutiny in the public opinion and has often been discussed, but has become a partisan issue, with the GOP acting unanimously against filibuster reform or repeal.  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed a “talking filibuster,” which would require Republicans to be on the floor of the Senate talking in order to sustain their objection to the filibuster. However, prior to the vote on filibuster reform, Schumer was aware that two Democrats were withholding their support of the bill. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona refused to support changing the filibuster, despite many calls to do so from people in their party. During the day of the vote, Manchin once again stated his opposition to the reform during a floor speech while President Biden was simultaneously giving a press conference on his first year in office. 

The filibuster reform failed due to the two Democrats withholding their support. In a statement after the vote, Biden stated that he is “profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy. I am disappointed – but I am not deterred. My Administration will never stop fighting to ensure that the heart and soul of our democracy – the right to vote – is protected at all costs.”

The Arizona Democratic Party, or ADP, reacted strongly to Senator Krysten Sinema refusing to vote to alter the filibuster. The chair of the ADP, Raquel Terán stated that while the party is appreciative of Sinema’s vote toward passing the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, “The ramifications of failing to pass federal legislation that protects [constituents’] right to vote are too large and far-reaching.” Following this, the ADP Executive Board decided to formally censure Senator Sinema. 

Although censure has no practical ramifications on a Senator and does not alter what they have the ability to do, it does make a statement within the party. Senator Sinema and Manchin both face reelection in 2024, and will have to overcome the division they currently are facing within their own party.