Sinema, Manchin slammed as Senate begins voting bill debate - Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy appeared headed for defeat as the Senate opened debate Tuesday, a devastating setback enabled by President Joe Biden’s own party as two holdout senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican filibuster.

The Democratic senators, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, faced strong criticism from Black leaders and civil rights organizations for failing to take on what critics call the “ Jim Crow filibuster.”.

The debate carries echoes of an earlier era when the Senate filibuster was deployed in lengthy speeches by opponents of civil rights legislation.

This is the fifth time the Senate will try to pass voting legislation this Congress.

Both Manchin and Sinema say they support the package, which has passed the House, but they are unwilling to change the Senate rules to muscle it through that chamber over Republican objections.

Martin Luther King III, the son of the late civil rights leader, compared Sinema and Manchin to the white moderates his father wrote about during the civil rights battles of the 1950s and 1960s — who declared support for the goals of Black voting rights but not the direct actions or demonstrations that ultimately led to passage of landmark legislation.

Biden has been unable to persuade Sinema and Manchin to join other Democrats to change the rules to lower the 60-vote threshold.

Both Manchin and Sinema have argued that preserving the filibuster rules, requiring the 60-vote majority to pass most legislation, is important for fostering bipartisanship.