Most legislation requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass in the 100-member U.S. Senate. In our politically polarized age, that usually means 50 Democrats and 10 Republicans. It looks like we’re one Republican short here. A bipartisan group, including nine Republican senators, has negotiated the terms of two important election reform bills.
The measures — called the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act and the Enhanced Election Security and Protection Act — are led by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
The bills seek to close loopholes in election law that then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to exploit to keep him in power despite his defeat in the 2020 election. The first bill would clarify the vice president’s role in counting Electoral College votes, raise the bar for members of Congress to object, and try to prevent fake slates of electors from interfering in the process. The second is aimed at protecting election workers.
In addition to Republican Susan Collins of Maine, these bills have the support of Rob Portman of Ohio, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Unless at least one more Republican joins the cause, these bills will go nowhere.
It’s also not clear when the bills might come up for a vote. They will first work their way through the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Fortunately, the ranking member on that committee is Sen. Portman, so it should be smooth sailing. It’s doubtful that a vote will be scheduled on the full floor of the Senate until after the August recess, and perhaps not until the very end of the year. By that time, Portman will be a lame duck, soon to be replaced by either Republican J.D. Vance or Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.
I don’t let myself get optimistic about legislation anymore, particularly when it intimately involves Sen. Joe Manchin whose word seems to be the furthest thing from his bond. But I’ll admit that there’s probably better than even odds that this effort will succeed. It’s just that I won’t be shocked if it doesn’t.
Cassidy voted to convict, so I’d put him down for Yes. Same goes for Toomey.
Seeing that list of GOP senators is a reminder that the single biggest uncovered Washington political story over the past 13 years is the failure of centrist Republicans to form the equivalent of the “Blue Dog” caucus so that they could wield their political power more effectively.