In a party-line vote the Senate did not get enough votes to advance cloture of the federal election takeover bill.  The senate voted 50-50 to advance the bill; however, 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture and continue.  Effectively, the republican senators have blocked the advancement of the bill using the filibuster.  Even for BlackRock republicans the ramifications of this bill were too toxic and too well known.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is now left with a decision of whether to change the rules of the Senate and eliminate the filibuster.  The severe left-wing of the Democrat party want Schumer to eliminate the filibuster and make simple majority legislation the rule of the Senate.  The pressure on Schumer will now intensify as the the federal takeover of election bill will be used as an example for their position.

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ sweeping elections and ethics reform bill on Tuesday, renewing calls from progressives to nix the legislative filibuster.

In a 50-50 vote, the Senate failed to move forward on the legislation, a top priority for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The path forward is now murky at best on an issue that Democrats say they need to resolve before the 2022 midterms.

Following the vote, Schumer vowed that Democrats would explore “every last one of our options” and pledged that the issue would come up for debate again in the Senate.

“Democrats are going to keep going all summer, all fall, as long as it takes,” Schumer said. “This concerns the very core of our democracy. So we will not let it go. We will not let it die. This voter suppression cannot stand. And we are going to work tirelessly to see that it does not stand.”

Republicans, however, remain vehemently opposed, arguing that the bill — which Democrats designated S. 1 to signify its importance — would amount to nothing more than the federalization of the U.S. election system. That means that Democrats would need to change Senate rules in order to pass the legislation. (read more)

If you want to get a gauge for the sentiment of the nation, check out the comments at the C-SPAN YouTube link.

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