Biden will deliver a major speech on voting rights soon in Philadelphia. Here’s what to expect.
NOW: Biden delivers voting rights speech in Philadelphia
From CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Kate Sullivan
President Biden is delivering a highly anticipated speech on voting rights from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday, the President will make “the moral case” for voting rights in remarks centered around protecting ballot access in the face of “authoritarian and anti-American” restrictions.
The address from Biden comes in the aftermath of former President Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and as Republican-controlled legislatures have pressed ahead with new state laws imposing limits on voting.
Since the November election, state lawmakers have enacted 28 laws in 17 states that restrict ballot access, according to a June tally by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.
Biden will decry Republican obstruction to a sweeping election reform bill that Democrats argue is a necessary counter to state-level efforts to restrict voting access. The President will stress that the work to pass that legislation, the For the People Act, as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act “are only beginning,” according to a White House official.
Biden will also call for a new coalition made up of advocates, activists, students, faith leaders, labor leaders and business executives “to overcome this un-American trend and meet the moment as far as turnout and voter education,” the official said.
Where things stand in Congress: The President and his team have repeatedly previewed a major push on voting rights after Republicans in the US Senate blocked a sweeping election reform bill last month, but it remains unclear how much he can accomplish.
Passing new voting legislation in Congress will almost certainly require altering filibuster rules, since Democrats’ slim majority in the Senate isn’t enough to overcome GOP opposition — and it’s not clear Democrat have the votes to pass a bill anyway.
Read more about Biden’s speech here.
What civil rights leaders are saying ahead of Biden’s voting rights speech
From CNN’s Nicquel Terry Ellis
President Biden is facing increasing pressure from Black civil rights leaders to take an aggressive stance on Congress eliminating the filibuster and passing federal legislation that would protect voters as the President prepares to deliver a major speech on voting rights Tuesday.
Black leaders say Biden has not acted swiftly enough on voting rights as a growing number of states pass laws that restrict voting access. His address in Philadelphia comes less than a week after the President met with the leaders of several civil rights organizations at the White House.
The group demanded that Biden go into communities and speak about what he was doing to protect voting rights, said Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, who attended the White House meeting.
The leaders also urged the Biden administration to do more to push Congress to approve the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Black voters, Campbell said, put Biden in office with the expectation that he would rally against GOP efforts to suppress their votes.
“We believe this is a state of emergency,” Campbell said. “Because we don’t have a strong voting rights act to push back on some of this, then we are looking at regression… and with African Americans, we have always had to have federal intervention.”
According to the White House, Biden’s speech Tuesday will include “remarks on actions to protect the sacred, constitutional right to vote.”
Passing voting rights legislation has been an uphill battle for Democrats because of the filibuster, which means their slim majority in the Senate isn’t enough to overcome GOP opposition. Moderate Democrats have opposed major changes to the rules, making the future of new voting laws unclear. Biden has also stopped short of supporting elimination of the filibuster but has expressed openness to making the practice harder to execute.
Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said there is no path to voting rights that does not require modifying or ending the filibuster.
Biden, he said, has the power to influence lawmakers and that it would be an “epic fail” if the President doesn’t take a stand against the filibuster in his speech.
“The President’s hands are never tied,” Albright said.
Read more here.
Vice President Harris to meet with Texas Democrats this week
From CNN’s Jasmine Wright and Kaitlan Collins
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet this week with the Texas legislators “who broke quorum to block legislation that would have made it significantly harder for the people of Texas to vote,” her office says.
The Texas Democrats left the state Monday in an effort to block Republicans from passing a restrictive new voting law in the remaining 27 days of the special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Two chartered planes carrying the majority of the Democrats who left Texas for Washington, DC, landed at Dulles International Airport on Monday evening, a source familiar told CNN. They have largely kept their planning secret because they can be legally compelled to return to the state Capitol and believed law enforcement could be sent to track them down, two sources familiar with the Democrats’ plans had told CNN earlier Monday.
Reporting from CNN’s Clare Foran and Lauren Fox contributed to this post.
Democratic lawmaker: We hope to see the President lean in “hard” on voting rights legislation
From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury, Clare Foran and Lauren Fox
Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes, of Maryland, said he hopes President Biden uses his authority to “lean in” on voting rights and begins pushing harder for the passage of the For the People Act.
Sarbanes told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that he hopes Biden will use the bully pulpit of the presidency during his remarks today, to “lean in on these important issues of public policy. In this case, saving our democracy from the attacks that we’re seeing across the country on the right to vote… We very much hope to see the President leaning in hard on this, describing what the threat is. But also focusing attention on what the solution is.”
Sarbanes explained how the For the People Act is a key piece of voting rights legislation that could address “90% of the mischief we’re seeing when it comes to blocking people’s access.”
He said he hopes the President “speaks to the importance of that legislation, and starts to reach out to Capitol Hill in a meaningful way to encourage legislators, lawmakers, senators, to do what it takes to get this across the finish line.”
The For the People Act failed in the Senate last month after Republicans blocked the legislation.
A procedural vote to open debate on the legislation was defeated by a tally of 50-50, falling short of the 60 votes needed to succeed. Democrats were united in favor of the vote after securing support from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but Republicans were united against it, causing the measure to fail to advance.
Texas Democrats currently do not have plans to meet with any Senate Republicans
From CNN’s Jessica Dean
The group of Texas House Democrats in Washington, DC, currently do not have plans to meet with any Senate Republicans, according to a spokesperson for the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
With all 50 Senate Democrats already on board with voting rights legislation, it’s Republican support that’s needed for any legislation to pass. No Republican voted in favor of the For the People Act when it was brought to the Senate floor last month.
The group is scheduled to meet with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Alex Padilla, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand today — all Democrats who already support the voting rights legislation Texas Democrats hope to see passed into law.
Earlier today, standing in front of the US Capitol, the chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, Chris Turner, said one of the group’s goals while in Washington was to “implore the folks in this building behind us to pass federal voting rights legislation.”
Only 4 Democrats were in attendance in the Texas House this morning
From CNN’s Dianne Gallagher
When the Texas House gaveled in Tuesday morning, 57 of the 61 House Democrats were not in attendance.
The Texas state Senate did have a quorum this morning with 22 members present. There were four Democrats on the floor when the Senate convened this morning.
Two additional members would have to leave to deny quorum in the Texas Senate (21 are needed for a quorum).
By the end of today there will be nine Texas state senators in DC, state senator Carol Alvarado tells CNN.
Alvarado is one of the senators in Washington, DC. Texas state House Democrats left the state yesterday in an effort to block Republicans from passing a restrictive new voting law in the remaining 27 days of the special legislative session called by the state’s GOP governor.
Biden “must do everything that is possible” to protect voting rights, civil rights leader says
From CNN’s Alyssa Kraus
Ahead of President Biden’s speech on voting rights this afternoon, Dr. Johnnetta Cole, the president of the National Council of Negro Women, told CNN she believes Biden “must do everything that is possible” to protect the American right to vote.
“It is not only Black Americans,” Cole said of those affected by restricted voting rights. “You mess with the most fundamental expression of American democracy, you mess with all of us.”
Cole, along with other civil rights leaders, previously attended a meeting with the President at the White House to discuss voting rights.
“I am convinced from being in that meeting with my seven colleagues, the leaders of legendary civil rights organizations, I saw in President Biden, I saw in Vice President Harris a total commitment to protecting the rights of Black people to vote,” Cole said.
Moreover, Cole called Republicans’ attempts to restrict voting rights “an assault on American democracy.”
“I’ve been on this Earth a long time, including living during the wretched days of Jim Crow laws. What’s going on in my country now? It’s a sinister version of the same effort to keep Black people from voting,” Cole said.
Manchin says he plans to meet with Texas Democrats today
From CNN’s Ali Zaslav
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Tuesday he “absolutely” wants to meet with the Democratic Texas state lawmakers while they’re at the Capitol today, but he doesn’t know when yet.
Asked if he’ll be receptive to the lawmakers if they make the case to him to reconsider keeping the legislative filibuster at a 60-vote threshold, he said, “I’m respectful for everyone’s desires and requests and I’m sure they’ll be respectful of my answers.”
Some more context: Passing new voting legislation in Congress will almost certainly require altering filibuster rules, since Democrats’ slim majority in the Senate isn’t enough to overcome GOP opposition — and it’s not clear Democrat have the votes to pass a bill anyway. Manchin has consistently reiterated his opposition to gutting the filibuster.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.
Texas House Republicans approve a measure to arrest members who are absent
From CNN’s Dianne Gallagher
Upon reconvening in Austin on Tuesday morning, a quorum is not present in the Texas state House.
By a vote of 76 to 4, a motion was approved to direct the Texas House Sergeant at Arms to send for all unexcused absent members in an effort to secure a quorum, “under warrant of arrest, if necessary.”
Texas law enforcement does not have jurisdiction in Washington, DC, so it is unlikely the order will have much effect while the Texas House Democrats remain out of state.
However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told KVUE on Monday that once the state House Democrats return to Texas, “they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done.”
The Texas Constitution does allow for a smaller number of members than a quorum to vote to compel the attendance of absent members.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/pBDKxJZbF-I/
