Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Advocates are taking action across the country as they hope to pressure members of Congress to pass voting rights legislation by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

One of the actions being taken right now is a hunger strike by individuals in different parts of the U.S. as a form of protest to get the legislation passed.

Rev. Stephen A. Green, chair of Faith for Black Lives, organized a hunger strike that included him and 24 other faith leaders from across the country prompted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “Dear collogues” letter released in early January.

“From Jan. 3, we noticed that there was a deadline or a date was identified for voting on or before Jan. 17,” said Green. “And so, we decided to engage in this hunger strike to continue to apply pressure on the Senate to get it done on or before Jan. 17.”

Green and the other faith leaders began their hunger strike on Jan. 6.

Un-PAC, a nonpartisan organization with a current mission is to get The Freedom to Vote Act passed, has restarted its hunger strike from last month and currently has members and allies protesting outside the U.S. Capitol.

“This is a last-minute push and a desperate plea because if this bill does not pass, by Martin Luther King Jr. Day or the end of January, it will be too late to implement many of the major facets of the bill [for the 2022 midterms],” said Callynn Johnson, a member of Un-PAC.

Last month, Un-PAC went on a hunger strike for just over two weeks outside the White House to push for voting rights legislation. The organization has more people joining them on their strike, including the faith leaders.

Another major event to support voting legislation will happen in Phoenix on Saturday, where there will be a voting rights mobilization.

“We will march over the 16th Street overpass here in Phoenix and march back to Eastlake Park,” said Dr. Jannah Scott, a liaison and member of the leadership council with the African American Christian Clergy Coalition of Arizona. “Then, at the park part, we will have a program of speakers, of music, of people just coming together and giving their exhortation about why this is so important and about calling in Congress and the president to do what they need to do at this critical time in our history.”

Eastlake Park has been a focal point for African American history. The park has traditionally been used for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration. The park has also held civil rights rallies, civil rights leaders’ visits and is the starting point of all civil rights marches to the state Capitol.

Over the past year, the Arizona state legislature has passed state laws restricting voting access.

Arizona is also the home of Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., one of two key Democrats needed to end the filibuster and create a pathway for voting legislation. However, on Thursday, Sinema made it clear during her speech on the Senate floor that she does not intend to do that.

“There’s no need for me to restate my long-standing support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation,” said Sinema. “There’s no need for me to restate its role protecting our country from wild reversals in federal policy is a view I’ve held during my years serving in both the U.S. House and the Senate and it is the view I continue to hold.”

All these events lead up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday when over a 100 national and grassroots organizations will gather in Washington, D.C., for a march that will start at Potomac Avenue and end at Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. A press conference will follow where Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and other voting rights leaders and community organizers will speak on the urgency to pass voting legislation.

Even after discussions with President Joe Biden and other Democratic colleagues, Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are still not agreeing to end the filibuster. Without their votes, there is seemingly no pathway for voting legislation to pass before or on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but that is not stopping protesters and voting rights advocates from taking action.

“We will escalate our mobilization if our demands are not met to have legislation passed by [Martin Luther King Jr. Day],” said Green.

“We will continue the calling for [voting rights],” said Scott. “We will not rest until this gets done.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — While the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, some states are enacting or discussing protections for reproductive rights.

This week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that codifies the right to an abortion, previously recognized by the state Supreme Court, into state law.

The so-called Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, which quickly passed through the state legislature after first introduced on Jan. 6, grew out of concern that the conservative-leaning high court could overturn or limit Roe in the coming months through its decision on a Mississippi case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, that asks the justices to directly reconsider the nearly 50-year precedent.

“The United States Supreme Court is preparing to take a wrecking ball to its own precedent, Roe v. Wade, and that would also demolish our case law-based foundation here in New Jersey. Neither I nor those with me today can let that happen,” Murphy said Thursday at a public bill signing. “Now, once I sign this bill, regardless of whether or not the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, New Jersey’s position in supporting the right to reproductive autonomy will remain clear and unchanged.”

The Democratic governor additionally signed a bill that requires insurers to cover 12 months of birth control prescriptions at one time.

Sarah Fajardo, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, called the two bills an “important step” for residents as the country is “experiencing a crisis related to reproductive rights access and equity.”

“These two bills not only declare the rights to abortion and reproductive autonomy in the Garden State, but expand much-needed access to contraception,” Fajardo said during Thursday’s bill signing.

Other states are also poised to address protecting abortion rights while the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to uphold the Mississippi abortion ban.

The Vermont House of Representatives heard testimony this week on Prop 5, an amendment that would enshrine “reproductive autonomy,” including abortion, in the state constitution. If ultimately passed by the state legislature, the proposal could go before voters in November.

In California, lawmakers are expected this year to consider a plan to make the state a “sanctuary” for anyone seeking abortion services should Roe be overturned. The California Future of Abortion Council, which Gov. Gavin Newsom convened in September, has recommended that the state help cover the cost of the procedure, as well as transportation, lodging, child care, food and lost wages, for those seeking an abortion there.

After hearing arguments last month over the Mississippi law, which would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared inclined to scale back abortion rights. A decision on the case is expected by the end of the court’s term in June.

Should the court overturn Roe, leaving the right to an abortion decided on a state-by-state basis, 26 states are “certain or likely” to ban abortion, according to a report published in October by the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization.

Among those, 21 states already have so-called trigger laws that would immediately ban abortion if Roe were overturned. The other five states are likely to ban abortion should Roe be overturned, the Guttmacher report said.

Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., currently have laws that protect the right to abortion, according to the institute.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration will launch a new website on Wednesday that Americans can use to request free at-home rapid COVID tests mailed to their doorsteps, senior White House officials said on Friday.

People will be able to order four tests per household at COVIDTests.gov. They won’t be delivered immediately, though. They will be shipped out 7-12 days after they’re ordered, senior officials said.

That means the first free tests won’t reach Americans until late January or early February, which will be too late to blunt the peak of omicron cases in many parts of the country. Still, the plan will allow Americans to have free tests on-hand in the coming weeks and months.

All that people need to enter on the site to receive a test is a name and an address. The White House will also launch a call line for people who don’t have computer access.

Another 500 million tests will eventually also be available, bringing the total to 1 billion free at-home tests distributed to Americans, but the White House hasn’t announced a timeline for the second batch of tests.

And more immediately, starting Saturday, people will be able to get up to eight tests per month reimbursed through insurance if they go out and purchase them on their own, either online or at stores.

“In the first couple of days, we’re encouraging people to just make sure you keep your receipts as the systems are getting up online,” a senior administration official said on Friday.

The White House is also incentivizing insurers to work with retailers and offer the tests for free up-front for people who show their insurance cards, similar to how prescriptions might be covered at the pharmacy. Those partnerships between insurers and retailers are still in the works.

This is on top of 50 million free at-home tests that have been doled out to community health centers around the country and 20,000 free testing sites.

Taken together, it all signifies a clear effort on behalf of the administration to increase the testing supply after omicron caught the government off guard.

The myriad testing options now in full swing will also likely take the pressure off the website launching on Wednesday, particularly as cases begin to fall in some northeastern areas.

Less demand will give the White House time to finish contracting all 500 million tests.

Currently, the White House only has tens of millions of tests on hand, a senior administration official confirmed Friday.

They’ve secured another 400 million or so that are still being manufactured and delivered.

But senior administration officials said they were confident they would be able to get tests sent out to any American who ordered a test next week within their shipping timeline of 7-12 days.

“We’re confident that with our contracting speed, which is very fast, with the ones we have on hand, and the timeline we’re laying out today, that we can meet all of our timelines and get these to Americans that want them,” a senior administration official said.

The tests will be sent via the U.S. Postal Service as first class mail.

The tests will not necessarily be of use to Americans who were exposed and want to take a test within the first 5 days of exposure, or come down with symptoms and want to test immediately, since they’ll take more than 7-12 days to arrive.

But senior administration officials ran through the host of other testing options Americans can use in those scenarios and defended this program as one “​​designed to ensure that Americans have at-home rapid tests on hand in the weeks and months ahead, as they have a need.”

The officials also said they were “ready” to meet demand on Wednesday and prevent any website crashes, as seen during former President Barack Obama’s launch of Healthcare.gov, which was overseen at the time by the current White House COVID Coordinator Jeff Zients.

“Of course, every website launch poses some risks, we are quite cognizant of that. But we have the best tech teams” across the administration, an official said. “So we’re ready for this and we’re ready for Americans to start ordering their tests on January 19.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — With the midterm elections officially taking center stage in national politics, GOP candidates up and down the ballot are taking advantage of nationwide divides over education issues — homing in on controversies over how much power school boards should have to bolster their campaigns.

Parental involvement, curriculum choices, COVID policies and vaccine mandates dominated conversations relating to Virginia’s 2021 gubernatorial race, after Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe said he didn’t think parents should have a say in what their children are taught at school, which, in part, ultimately delivered a win for Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin.

The controversy over whether and how to teach about race also helped bring school boards into the national conversation, further seeping the bodies into partisan politics. School boards are now so contentious that some state legislatures are looking to make their normally nonpartisan elections, partisan.

In 2021, Tennessee passed a bill to attach party affiliation to school board candidates, and Arizona, Missouri, Utah and Indiana are among the states flirting with the idea.

School board elections, as with other down-ballot races, often don’t pull hordes of attention from voters. But already in 2022, 20 school board recall efforts have been launched across the country, according to data tracked by the nonpartisan organization Ballotpedia. In 2021, 91 recall efforts were pursued, on average more than twice as many as had been seen in the past.

Like other battlegrounds, school boards have taken center stage in Arizona. GOP candidates for governor there and those hoping to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly in Washington have even started dropping in on school board meetings to shore up support.

School boards were propelled into the spotlight in the state after a document from a Scottsdale school board member listing personal information about parents who had criticized the district was shared by his son, according to the Arizona Republic. Politicians weighed in on the controversy that ensued and, ultimately, efforts to remove the member were successful.

Kari Lake, a former TV anchor, who is running for Arizona governor with backing from former President Donald Trump, and Jim Lamon, a businessman running to unseat Kelly in the Senate, held a joint rally outside the Scottsdale high school in late November ahead of a school board meeting to discuss the parental “dossier.”

Lamon offered to pay legal expenses for parents who chose to pursue lawsuits against the district related to coronavirus policies or other issues.

“These people in that school board meeting about to kick off here, they work for you,” Lamon said outside the Scottsdale meeting, according to the Arizona Republic.

“They work for the parents and the kids, not for themselves. And we don’t work for them. … We’re a peaceful group, we’re great parents here, and we’ll stand tall. And I got your back,” he added.

Lake cut an ad with mothers from the district announcing she would establish the “Arizona Parent Coalition” as governor, which would “serve as an oversight to unruly school boards and the union bosses.”

“When all of us parents rally together, we win. And when we win, we will root out critical race theory,” she said in a campaign video.

Lake is fundraising on the school board controversy as well, with a page on the Republican donation hosting site WinRed dedicated specifically to to it. She’s singled herself out from the GOP field across the state by calling for cameras in all classrooms, which her competitors and sitting GOP Gov. Doug Ducey have spoken out against.

Former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon, who is running for governor, has called on the Arizona School Board Association to distance itself from the national branch. He told ABC News that while he doesn’t think school board issues will necessarily draw single-issue voters, he does think they will engage previously unengaged ones.

“It looks like we’ve awakened the sleeping giant, and it’s not just this, it’s all kinds of government intrusion,” Salmon said. “I think this is part and parcel of a lot of things that people are seeing: that their way of life is not getting better. It’s getting worse.”

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(NEW YORK) — As the midterm elections approach later this year, some states and jurisdictions have required voting ballots to be made available in other languages besides English.

The Latino population continues to grow in the United States and some counties have mandated that ballots in Spanish are available at polling sites.

However, Spanish and non-English ballots are not required across the nation, though some advocates say that multilingual ballots are critical for democracy.

“We need to have bilingual ballots, bilingual material across the country, it should be a national requirement and a national norm,” said Domingo Garcia, the national president for the League of United Latin American Citizens.

In the 2020 U.S. Census data, the Latino population accounted for over 60 million people. Yet, according to a study conducted by the City University of New York, only 10.6% of Latinos voted in the 2020 elections.

Some advocates believe that one of the reasons behind this lagging voting number is a language barrier.

“When we look at the language barrier, it is voter suppression, right? It is discriminatory against eligible citizens who … have the right to access ballots,” said League of United Latin American Citizens Chief Executive Director Sindy Benavides.

Benavides said the need for ballot materials in Spanish include a need for other voting resources, such as interpreters, bilingual ballot directors and even flyers that can influence voter turnout.

“The requirements are very straightforward. … All election information that is available in English must also be available in the minority language so that all citizens have the opportunity to register and to participate in elections and be able to cast a free and effective ballot,” said Benavides. “We know that language barrier is directly tied to low voter turnout.”

The areas of impact

Across the nation, at least 331 U.S. jurisdictions are required by law to offer language assistance to specific groups. But that number only makes for 4.1% of the 2,920 counties and 5,120 minor civil divisions that constitute the political subdivisions in U.S. Section 203 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“In our own backyard, across the entire United States — Ohio, Utah, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, you name it — we are touching every single state and one fact that is true, is that the Latino community will continue to grow for decades to come,” said Benavides.

According to U.S. Section 203, if over 5% of a township or county’s voting-age citizens are limited in English proficiency they need to be covered by language provisions within the Voting Rights Act, according to the U.S. Census.

Just last month, in the Washington, D.C., area, Prince George’s County in Maryland and Prince William County in Virginia mandated ballots in Spanish to accommodate their significant Latino populations.

But in Georgia, Latino activists have pushed for Spanish-language ballots in Hall County, where 28% of all residents are Hispanic, according to Census data.

“What we’ve heard specifically from the community has been that not having information in Spanish limits their ability to be able to freely and openly participate,” said Jerry Gonzalez, founder and CEO of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, or GALEO.

“Our community really takes voting very seriously, and they want to be informed and educated about what’s on the ballot,” said Gonzalez. “Sometimes not knowing what’s on the ballot, because they can’t read it in Spanish, makes them hesitant to actually cast a ballot and it prevents people from voting.”

In November 2020, according to a report from GALEO, there were 385,185 Latino voters, representing 4.1% of the total electorate in Georgia. When compared to the 2016 analysis, the Latino electorate in the state grew by 140,995 Latino registered voters, representing a growth rate of 57.7%.

“Our effort is to make sure that we educate our community in both English and Spanish about the importance of their vote and also the importance of these elections and how consequential they are for us moving our community forward,” said Gonzalez.

Hall County, Georgia, Elections Director Lori Wurtz told the Gainesville Times in December that Spanish ballots in the county would not be reevaluated for another five years, however, after that evaluation, she foresees the county qualifying for bilingual ballots. According to the U.S Census, jurisdictions are evaluated every five years using data from the American Community Survey.

“When we are tapped to do this, we’re ready,” Wurtz told the outlet.

Need for change

This week, the Senate will meet to discuss voting rights. However, Gonzalez emphasizes the need to also have “language barrier” as part of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

This would be a key addition for Puerto Ricans, who have the right to vote in the United States as American citizens. If Puerto Ricans move to one of the 50 states, they are allowed to vote in federal elections, but they might not feel confident to do so with Spanish being the main language spoken on the island.

“It is important for Puerto Ricans to vote in the language that they understand, because there are now more Puerto Ricans living on the mainland,” said Kira Romero-Craft from Latino Justice Puerto Rico Legal Defense Educational Fund.

“If they want to influence Congress to impact the island then Puerto Ricans need to vote,” she told ABC News. “Puerto Rico, to me, is like the perfect example of why we need to care and why we need to engage and vote as if our life depended on it — because it does.”

Although a language barrier continues to be an ongoing issue in some states, advocates are calling on Latinos to go out and take to the polls regardless of current circumstances that may affect them.

“Your vote counts; your voice is your vote. And right now, more than ever, if you want immigration reform, then you got to vote to make sure that you have a congressperson or senator that will represent your points of view,” said Garcia.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce a nearly $27 billion investment Friday to fund repairs and replace bridges in need.

The Department of Transportation will launch the Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection, and Construction Program, which will provide $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico over five years and $825 million for tribal transportation facilities.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country — the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth, and make people’s lives better in every part of the country — across rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities.”

The funding is part of the bipartisan infrastructure package that Biden signed into law in November. While the program is slated to help repair thousands of bridges across the country, the administration is also seeking to use the program to increase resiliency when it comes to climate change, as well as make bridges safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Across the country, the program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 highway bridges, and will be allocated to each state according to a needs-based formula — though the choice of which projects are undertaken are left up to the states.

While the funding for fiscal year 2022 is being released immediately, states will learn their funding totals for the full five years of the program in order to plan ahead, a senior administration official told reporters.

“As part of this announcement, the Federal Highway Administration will distribute $5.3 billion to states, D.C. and Puerto Rico for the current federal fiscal year, along with $165 million to tribes,” the official said.

Some of the states set to receive the most funding include Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and New York.

In addition to providing funds to states to replace and repair highway bridges, the program has dedicated funding for “off-system” bridges, which are often locally owned and not part of the federal highway system.

“While states generally must match federal funding with up to 20% state or local funding, the bipartisan infrastructure law allows the use of federal funds to pay for the entire cost — 100% of the cost — of repairing or rehabilitating locally owned off-system bridges,” the official stressed.

“The department encourages governors and states to take advantage of this incentive to make their federal dollars go further by focusing on local bridges,” they added.

Pressed on how the administration planned to enforce its desire to focus funds on repairs for existing bridges, and emphasizing equity when new bridges are constructed, particularly in Republican-run states, the official brushed off the concern.

“Bridges in general are neither red nor blue. They’re an important piece of infrastructure in communities,” the official said. “And the state transportation departments have a good track record of investing in bridges based on the condition of those bridges. And we’re confident that with these funds and with the guidance we’ve provided and with the conversations that we’ve been having with them, they’re going to be directing the funds to the bridges that are in most need of repair.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday in an attempt to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back a major change to the Senate’s rules that would allow voting rights legislation to move forward, two key Democratic senators again rejected the idea.

Making the trip risked his political capital, after delivering an impassioned speech Tuesday in which he said there was “no option” except for senators to do away with the filibuster — a rule that requires 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 50, to advance most legislation — if the bills could not be advanced another way.

“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,” he said Tuesday. “I’m tired of being quiet!”

The president entered the Democratic caucus room to applause shortly after 1 p.m.

But Biden quickly faced a losing battle in transforming his rhetoric into action as a pair of Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — repeated their steadfast opposition to changing the filibuster.

Even as he headed to Capitol Hill Thursday, Sinema made a Senate floor speech saying she would not support changing the rule.

“There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals of federal policy,” Sinema said. “This week’s harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year.”

“Demands to eliminate this threshold from whichever party holds the fleeting majority amount to a group of people separated on two sides of a canyon, shouting that solution to their colleagues,” she added.

And soon after, Manchin told reporters he thought Sinema did a “great job” in her floor speech and said that the Senate needs “rules changes” but “not getting rid of the filibuster” — a blow to Biden before he even arrived on the Hill for the Democratic caucus lunch.

After emerging from the closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats, Biden said, “The honest to God answer is, I don’t know whether we can get this done.” He added, “I hope we can get this done, but I’m not sure. But one thing for certain, one thing for certain. Like every other major civil rights bill that came along, if we miss the first time, we can come back and try it a second time. We missed this time.”

He referred to efforts in Republican-led states to pass more restrictive voting laws. “The state legislative bodies continue to change the law, not as to who can vote, but who gets to count the vote. Count the vote. Count the vote. It’s about election subversion, not just whether or not people get to vote: who counts the vote. That’s what it’s about. That’s what makes this so different than anything else we’ve ever done.”

Biden has made clear this week who he thinks would be to blame if he’s unsuccessful: Republicans, who he said Tuesday were choosing the side of standing in the way of advancing civil rights if they block the bills.

And all 50 Republican senators oppose the bills, which Democrats say are needed to create national standards for making voting more accessible and to put a check on new state laws that make it more difficult for members of minority groups and others to cast their ballots.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared visibly angry Wednesday as he blasted Biden’s speech, calling it “profoundly, profoundly unpresidential.” He deemed the remarks a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”

When asked by ABC News about McConnell’s rebuke, Biden said: “I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”

Despite Biden’s support for a carveout to the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Democrats planned to use existing rules to prevent Republicans from using the filibuster to block debate from starting.

House Democrats are expected to replace an existing piece of legislation — one that would not require a vote for debate to begin — with both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, allowing them to bypass Republicans’ attempts to block the legislation from debate.

“The Senate will finally debate voting rights legislation, and then every Senator will be faced with a choice of whether or not to pass the legislation to protect our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a memo to the Democratic Caucus Wednesday.

Still, Republicans will have another opportunity to block the bill from passing by filibustering before debate ends. Without changing the rules around the filibuster, the legislation will still require 60 votes to pass.

Biden, a veteran of the Senate and a self-described “institutionalist,” has undergone an evolution in his view of the filibuster during the first year as president.

In an interview in March, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he supports bringing back the “talking filibuster,” a version of the rule that would require a senator to “stand up and command the floor” and “keep talking” in order to hold up legislation.

Biden went further during a CNN town hall in October, noting that he would be open to “fundamentally altering” the filibuster on issues of particular consequence like voting rights.

But Biden’s most definitive comments came in December while speaking with ABC News’ David Muir, saying he would support a carveout to the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights legislation if that was the “only thing” standing in the way.

“If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told Muir.

ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill Thursday in an attempt to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back a major change to the Senate’s rules that would allow a pair of voting rights bills to move forward.

The trip amounts to him putting his money where his mouth is, after delivering an impassioned speech Tuesday in which he said there was “no option” except for senators to do away with the filibuster — a rule that requires 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 50, to advance most legislation — if the bills could not be advanced another way.

“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,” he said Tuesday. “I’m tired of being quiet!”

The White House has said that in the wake of his speech in Atlanta — where Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris — Biden and Harris “will be working the phones over the next several days pushing members of the Senate to support voting rights legislation and changes to Senate rules.”

On Thursday, the White House said, Biden will meet with Senate Democrats “to discuss the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote” and “again underline that doing so requires changing the rules of the Senate to make the institution work again.”

But Biden faces an uphill battle transforming rhetoric into action. A pair of Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — have remained intransigent in their opposition to taking such a step.

Sinema reiterated in a Senate floor speech Thursday, as Biden prepared to head to the Hill, that she would not support changing the rule.

“There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals of federal policy,” Sinema said. “This week’s harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year.”

“Demands to eliminate this threshold from whichever party holds the fleeting majority amount to a group of people separated on two sides of a canyon, shouting that solution to their colleagues,” she added.

With prospects of passage so uncertain even after his fiery speech, the president is risking his political capital, particularly as he struggles to get another domestic priority — his “Build Back Better” social legislation — through the Senate.

Biden has made clear this week who he thinks would be to blame if he’s unsuccessful: Republicans, who he said Tuesday were choosing the side of standing in the way of advancing civil rights if they block the bills.

And all 50 Republican senators oppose the bills, which Democrats say are needed to create national standards for making voting more accessible and to put a check on new state laws that make it more difficult for members of minority groups and others to cast their ballots.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared visibly angry Wednesday as he blasted Biden’s speech, calling it “profoundly, profoundly unpresidential.” He deemed the remarks a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”

When asked by ABC News about McConnell’s rebuke, Biden said: “I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”

Despite Biden’s support for a carveout to the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Democrats planned to use existing rules to prevent Republicans from using the filibuster to block debate from starting.

House Democrats are expected to replace an existing piece of legislation — one that would not require a vote for debate to begin — with both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, allowing them to bypass Republicans’ attempts to block the legislation from debate.

“The Senate will finally debate voting rights legislation, and then every Senator will be faced with a choice of whether or not to pass the legislation to protect our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a memo to the Democratic Caucus Wednesday.

Still, Republicans will have another opportunity to block the bill from passing by filibustering before debate ends. Without changing the rules around the filibuster, the legislation will still require 60 votes to pass.

Biden, a veteran of the Senate and a self-described “institutionalist,” has undergone an evolution in his view of the filibuster during the first year as president.

In an interview in March, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he supports bringing back the “talking filibuster,” a version of the rule that would require a senator to “stand up and command the floor” and “keep talking” in order to hold up legislation.

Biden went further during a CNN town hall in October, noting that he would be open to “fundamentally altering” the filibuster on issues of particular consequence like voting rights.

But Biden’s most definitive comments came in December while speaking with ABC News’ David Muir, saying he would support a carveout to the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights legislation if that was the “only thing” standing in the way.

“If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told Muir.

ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to head to Capitol Hill on Thursday in an attempt to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back a major change to the Senate’s rules that would allow a pair of voting rights bills to move forward.

The trip amounts to him putting his money where his mouth is, after delivering an impassioned speech Tuesday in which he said there was “no option” except for senators to do away with the filibuster — a rule that requires 60 votes, rather than a simple majority of 50, to advance most legislation — if the bills could not be advanced another way.

“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,” he said Tuesday. “I’m tired of being quiet!”

The White House has said that in the wake of his speech in Atlanta — where Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris — Biden and Harris “will be working the phones over the next several days pushing members of the Senate to support voting rights legislation and changes to Senate rules.”

On Thursday, the White House said, Biden will meet with Senate Democrats “to discuss the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote” and “again underline that doing so requires changing the rules of the Senate to make the institution work again.”

But Biden faces an uphill battle transforming rhetoric into action. A pair of Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — have remained intransigent in their opposition to taking such a step.

With prospects of passage so uncertain even after his fiery speech, the president is risking his political capital, particularly as he struggles to get another domestic priority — his “Build Back Better” social legislation — through the Senate.

Biden has made clear this week who he thinks would be to blame if he’s unsuccessful: Republicans, who he said Tuesday were choosing the side of standing in the way of advancing civil rights if they block the bills.

And all 50 Republican senators oppose the bills, which Democrats say are needed to create national standards for making voting more accessible and to put a check on new state laws that make it more difficult for members of minority groups and others to cast their ballots.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared visibly angry Wednesday as he blasted Biden’s speech, calling it “profoundly, profoundly unpresidential.” He deemed the remarks a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”

When asked by ABC News about McConnell’s rebuke, Biden said: “I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”

Despite Biden’s support for a carveout to the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Democrats planned to use existing rules to prevent Republicans from using the filibuster to block debate from starting.

House Democrats are expected to replace an existing piece of legislation — one that would not require a vote for debate to begin — with both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, allowing them to bypass Republicans’ attempts to block the legislation from debate.

“The Senate will finally debate voting rights legislation, and then every Senator will be faced with a choice of whether or not to pass the legislation to protect our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a memo to the Democratic Caucus Wednesday.

Still, Republicans will have another opportunity to block the bill from passing by filibustering before debate ends. Without changing the rules around the filibuster, the legislation will still require 60 votes to pass.

Biden, a veteran of the Senate and a self-described “institutionalist,” has undergone an evolution in his view of the filibuster during the first year as president.

In an interview in March, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he supports bringing back the “talking filibuster,” a version of the rule that would require a senator to “stand up and command the floor” and “keep talking” in order to hold up legislation.

Biden went further during a CNN town hall in October, noting that he would be open to “fundamentally altering” the filibuster on issues of particular consequence like voting rights.

But Biden’s most definitive comments came in December while speaking with ABC News’ David Muir, saying he would support a carveout to the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights legislation if that was the “only thing” standing in the way.

“If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told Muir.

ABC News’ Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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(ORLANDO, Fla.) — A former girlfriend of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is potentially a key witness in the ongoing federal sex trafficking investigation into the congressman, was spotted on Wednesday with her lawyer entering an Orlando federal courthouse where a grand jury has been meeting, according to a source.

The ex-girlfriend, who ABC News is not naming, could play a crucial role for investigators who are continuing to probe Gaetz’s alleged sexual conduct with a separate young woman who was 17 years old at the time.

Gaetz’s former girlfriend allegedly has knowledge not only regarding the congressman but also the one-time minor at the center of the sex trafficking investigation, sources said.

The ex-girlfriend, who previously worked on Capitol Hill, was also one of the women who was allegedly on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas with Gaetz and others, including the 17-year-old, which prosecutors are also investigating, according to legal sources familiar with the case.

A grand jury investigating the Florida congressman has been meeting at the Orlando courthouse on Wednesdays, according to multiple sources.

The news was first reported by NBC.

A spokesperson for Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Florida congressman has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

Tim Jansen, the attorney representing Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, declined comment about the probe.

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