Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are set Tuesday to attend a Senate Rules Committee markup of S. 1, a Democrat-backed elections bill that would dramatically change the role of the federal government in elections.
The two party leaders are members of the Rules Committee but rarely appear to speak at hearings and markups. But they were both at the contentious hearing for the bill in March where they traded accusations of “Shame!”
Similar fireworks are expected Tuesday in what could be a marathon meeting.
Punchbowl News reported Tuesday that Republicans plan to offer more than 100 amendments to the bill during the markup. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said Monday that he’d filed more than 20 amendments to the bill on his own.
Clik here to view.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are set to clash Tuesday at a markup of the Democrat-backed elections bill S. 1.
(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
SCHUMER, MCCONNELL SPAR OVER DEMS’ S.1 ELECTION BILL DURING RARE COMMITTEE APPEARANCE: ‘SHAME!’
Officially called the “For the People Act,” Democrats assigned the S. 1 number to the legislation to emphasize that it is their priority. The corresponding bill in the House is H.R. 1.
The bill faces sharp opposition from Republicans, who accuse Democrats of a political effort to give themselves an advantage in elections. Hagerty refers to the bill as the “For the Politicians Act.”
McConnell, R-Ky., in March specifically cited a provision that would change the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) from a body with three Republicans and three Democrats to one with two members from each party and a third unaffiliated member appointed by the president.
SENATE DEMOCRATS PRESS AHEAD WITH ELECTION REFORM BILL DESCRIBED AS ‘POWER GRAB’ BY GOP
“Talk about shame. If anybody ought to be feeling any shame around here, it’s turning the FEC into a partisan prosecutor, the majority controlled by the president’s party, to harass and intimidate the other side,” McConnell said.
Schumer, meanwhile, said the bill is really about improving voting access, accusing Republicans of being “afraid of Democracy.” And Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., framed the bill as a response to new GOP-backed voting laws in states.
“These are real threats to our democracy and the For The People Act takes them head on in a common sense way,” she said in March.
Notably, however, Democrats introduced the ‘For the People Act’ before, in 2019.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
S. 1 and H.R. 1, which passed the House with only Democratic votes, would also ban states from requiring photo ID to vote; raise barriers for states to clear voter rolls; require states to offer drop boxes for 45 days before an election and much more.
