Biden will push for a change in Senate rules to push for voting rights: official | Joe Biden News

The U.S. president will agree to change the filibuster rules for voting rights legislation in a Georgia speech.

U.S. President Joe Biden will use a Georgia speech on voting rights to support a controversial change in the Senate. filibuster rules, said a White House official.

The official, who was scheduled to speak at a rally on Tuesday, told reporters on condition of anonymity. legislation.

“In the coming days, when these bills come to the vote, they will mark a turning point in this nation,” Biden said in a statement, according to an excerpt from a White House speech. “Should we choose democracy over autocracy, over light over shadow, over justice over injustice? I know where I am. ‘

Democrats and lawmakers have increasingly called for changes to Senate rules, as states across the country have passed voting legislation that says it is restrictive after the 2020 election.

At least 19 states have passed laws that make it difficult to vote, according to proponents of access to the vote, and some state lawmakers continue to cite the words of former President Donald Trump. unfounded claims voter fraud to encourage new cuts.

Meanwhile, Democrats are passing two federal laws that would mean the biggest revision of the U.S. election in a generation, removing barriers to voting in the name of election security, reducing the impact of big money on politics and limiting party influence. Drawing of congressional constituencies.

The package would create standard elections that would go beyond state law. It would also restore the Department of Justice’s ability to control electoral laws in states with a history of discrimination.

Biden will refer to Republicans as a “repeated hurdle” in helping to change the rule, a White House official told reporters. He will not seek the removal of the entire filibuster, but will seek changes specifically aimed at enacting voting rights legislation.

Democrats and Republicans currently have 50 seats in the Senate, and Vice President Kamala Harris is voting to break the tie by giving Democrats a simple majority.

Despite Biden’s gesture, 50 Senate Democrats should unite behind the change, and many now say they are not convinced.

Meanwhile, some right-wing advocates continue to criticize the administration for being too slow domestic voting rights priority.

Biden said he will skip talks on Tuesday after visiting several sites that are significant in the U.S. civil rights movement, and will spend the day at work instead.

“We are beyond words,” LaTosha Brown, founder of Black Votes Matter, told the Associated Press. “Right now, what we need, what we’re asking for, is federal law.”