Chuck Schumer isn’t messing around on this
With the beginning of 2022 and some trepidation after the hardships of 2020 and 2021, it’s safe to say that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t one of them. Although it felt like much of the momentum was lost at the end of last year when the Senate adjourned without passing Build Back Better, Schumer vowed that it would take immediate priority in the new year, along with legislation on voting rights. We’re about to see the Democrats make good on his promise as he’s now vowing to vote on a filibuster carve out to allow voting rights legislation to pass with a simple majority vote – and to hold the vote sometime between now and Martin Luther King Jr Day – within the first half of January.
There will probably be a lot more doomcasting by the media over this affair – with pundits hyping up some of the worst imaginable scenarios of how Schumer and fellow Democrats face a massive uphill battle when it comes to changing the rules – and this is likely to resonate with Republicans as well – potentially with arguments about how invaluable the filibuster is to preserving democracy and our institutions (which in typically circumstances the GOP couldn’t care less about), but that actually all works to Schumer’s advantage in a roundabout way.
If carve outs on the filibuster rules are such a horrible thing, then why can’t the GOP just come across the aisle and support legislation in favor of voting rights which are crucial to upholding democracy in the first place? The answer, of course, is they don’t want voters who don’t typically vote Republican to vote – and that’s why they should never be trusted with the reins of power – in 2022 or any time thereafter.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making