Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Voting rights reform among Senate Democrats' end-of-year priorities

Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted voting rights reform was among his top legislative priorities for the remainder of the year.

Mandel Ngan/Getty Images

With only a few weeks left until the end of the year, Democrats are facing a long legislative to-do list.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined the party's priorities in a "Dear Colleague" letter sent to his caucus on Sunday. While celebrating the passage of the infrastructure bill, Schumer acknowledged the "considerable" work left to do this month and in December.

Among the top agenda items are the Democrats' two major electoral reform bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Both have been blocked from debate by GOP filibusters, but Schumer and his fellow Democrats appear determined to push forward.


The Freedom to Vote Act was introduced in the Senate in September as a compromise to the For the People Act. While the newer bill contains many of the same provisions as its predecessor, it was slimmed down to appease moderate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who was the sole Democratic holdout on the For the People Act.

If enacted, the Freedom to Vote Act would ease access to the ballot box by expanding no-excuse absentee voting and automatic voter registration. It would also implement new minimum standards for states with voter ID laws. In addition to voting rights provisions, the bill would also strengthen protections for election workers, curb partisan gerrymandering and improve campaign finance transparency.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The Voting Rights Advancement Act, named after the late civil and voting rights icon John Lewis, would restore voting protections struck down by the Supreme Court. In 2013, the court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder eliminated the preclearance requirement, which mandated certain states with histories of racial discrimination receive advanced approval from the Justice Department before enacting new voting laws. The court's decision this summer in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee made it harder to challenge potentially discriminatory laws in court.

Earlier this month, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Manchin signed on to a revised version of the VRAA that modified which factors courts can take into account for cases of potential voting rights violations. These changes were proposed in an attempt to garner more GOP support for the bill.

However, except for Murkowski supporting the VRAA, Republicans remained staunchly opposed to both bills and voted to block them from debate in the Senate. The GOP's stonewalling has only fueled the call by voting rights advocates to reform or eliminate the filibuster.

And Schumer appears more willing than ever to consider such a move.

"Just because Republicans will not join us doesn't mean Democrats should stop fighting," Schumer wrote in the letter. "This is too important. Even if it means going at it alone, we will continue to fight for voting rights and work to find an alternative path forward to defend the most fundamental liberty we have as citizens."

Although the filibuster was not mentioned explicitly in the letter, Schumer did say that he and his colleagues have been discussing ideas for how to "restore the Senate to protect our democracy" and that these conversations will continue this week.

In addition to the electoral reform legislation, Schumer said the Senate will focus on clean energy investment through the Build Back Better Act. Also on the agenda is the National Defense Authorization Act, which approves Defense Department policies and funding. A measure that, among other things, would bolster domestic manufacturing and supply chains may be attached to the NDAA.

Another critical agenda item is approving the fiscal 2022 appropriations bill by Dec. 3 to avoid a government shutdown. Congress narrowly dodged this disaster earlier this fall by passing stopgap funding. Schumer noted in the letter that it is likely another continuing resolution will be necessary to delay the issue.

Lastly, the Senate will consider and vote on the dozens of individuals President Biden has nominated for various administrative roles and judgeships.

Schumer concluded his letter by saying, "I am confident we can get each of these important items done this year, but it will likely take some long nights and weekends."

Read More

House passes 1,100-page spending and tax bill, raising debt by up to $4 trillion

US Capitol

Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

House passes 1,100-page spending and tax bill, raising debt by up to $4 trillion

Early Thursday morning the House passed H.R. 1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act — yes, that’s it’s official title — a 1,100+ page bill with large cuts to both spending and taxes. We know the big picture but little about the details because it hasn’t been available for long enough for anyone to actually read it.

This is the “reconciliation” bill, the first signature legislation moved by Republicans in Congress and President Trump. This bill has special rules that make it immune to the Senate filibuster, so it can pass the Senate if a simple majority vote for it.

Keep ReadingShow less
How the Trump Administration Is Weakening the Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws

Kennell Staten filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development after he was denied housing. His complaint was rejected.

Bryan Birks for ProPublica

How the Trump Administration Is Weakening the Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws

Kennell Staten saw Walker Courts as his best path out of homelessness, he said. The complex had some of the only subsidized apartments he knew of in his adopted hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas, so he applied to live there again and again. But while other people seemed to sail through the leasing process, his applications went nowhere. Staten thought he knew why: He is gay. The property manager had made her feelings about that clear to him, he said. “She said I was too flamboyant,” he remembered, “that it’s a whole bunch of older people staying there and they would feel uncomfortable seeing me coming outside with a dress or skirt on.”

So Staten filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in February. It was the type of complaint that HUD used to take seriously. The agency has devoted itself to rooting out prejudice in the housing market since the Fair Housing Act was signed into law in 1968, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. And, following a 2020 Supreme Court rulingthat declared that civil rights protections bar unequal treatment because of someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, HUD considered it illegal to discriminate in housing on those grounds.

Keep ReadingShow less
Just the Facts: What Is a National Emergency?

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla

Just the Facts: What Is a National Emergency?

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

Has President Trump issued several executive orders based on national emergency declarations, and if so, which ones are they?

Keep ReadingShow less
The Hidden Moral Cost of America’s Tariff Crisis

Small business owner attaching permanent close sign on the shop door.

Getty Images, Kannika Paison

The Hidden Moral Cost of America’s Tariff Crisis

In the spring of 2025, as American families struggle with unprecedented consumer costs, we find ourselves at a point of "moral reckoning." The latest data from the Yale Budget Lab reveals that tariff policies have driven consumer prices up by 2.9% in the short term. In comparison, the Penn Wharton Budget Model projects a staggering 6% reduction in long-term GDP and a 5% decline in wages. But these numbers, stark as they are, tell only part of the story.

The actual narrative is one of moral choice and democratic values. Eddie Glaude describes this way in his book “Democracy in Black”: Our economic policies must be viewed through the lens of ethical significance—not just market efficiency. When we examine the tariff regime's impact on American communities, we see economic data points and a fundamental challenge to our democratic principles of equity and justice.

Keep ReadingShow less