Voting rights are the main agenda in Congress as Democratic lawmakers seek to pass the voting rights bills in the midst of Republican opposition. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently ripped into those who support the Senate filibuster, suggesting that they are not honoring the legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
During an event at Union Station in Washington celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pelosi ripped into the Senators that are defending the filibuster and its purpose in the upper chamber in the midst of the debate on voting rights. The Democratic House Speaker suggested that they are dishonoring the civil rights leader’s legacy and pursuit of voting rights by protecting the filibuster.
While Pelosi did not name names, two Democratic Senators – Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – recently doubled down on opposing a carveout of the Senate filibuster despite supporting the voting rights legislation. Republicans unanimously oppose the bills, and with the filibuster, the voting rights legislation would likely hit a dead end in the chamber.
“If you really, truly want to honor Dr. King, don’t dishonor him by using a congressional custom as an excuse for protecting our democracy,” said Pelosi in her remarks.
“We all want bipartisanship. We all strive for it, we have a responsibility to do so. But when we cannot have it, we cannot confine our democracy to do what might be bipartisanly possible,” added the House Speaker.
“So I ask our colleagues in the Senate respectfully for what they think the filibuster means…to weigh the equities against our democracy,” Pelosi continued. “Because nothing less is at stake than our democracy.”
In other related news, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer echoed Pelosi’s opposition to the notion that members of Congress cannot trade stocks while in office, arguing that lawmakers should have the same financial privileges as private citizens. This issue has been under scrutiny for some time following the report revealing that dozens of lawmakers may have violated laws aimed to eliminate conflicts of interest between them and the investments they make.
This has led to lawmakers from both political parties drafting legislation to address the issue.