华盛顿——在1月6日国会大厦遇袭一周年的前几天，多数党领袖查克·舒默宣布，参议院将很快就放松阻挠议事规则进行投票，以推进停滞不前的投票立法，民主党人表示，这项立法是保护美国民主所必需的。
纽约民主党参议员舒默周一在给同事的一封信中表示，参议院“必须发展”，并将在1月17日马丁·路德·金日之前“辩论和考虑”规则的变化，因为民主党人试图克服共和党人对他们的选举美国的一揽子法律。
“让我明确一点:1月6日是一种更广泛疾病的症状——试图使我们的选举过程，”舒默写道，“参议院必须推进系统性的民主改革，以修复我们的共和国，否则那天的事件将不会是反常的——它们将成为新的规范。"
选举和投票权一揽子计划在参议院50-50的平分中停滞不前，受到共和党领导的阻挠，民主党无法获得推进该计划通过所需的60票。
到目前为止，尽管经过数月的私下谈判，民主党人仍未能就参议院规则的潜在变化达成一致，以降低60票的门槛。
两名坚持己见的民主党人，西弗吉尼亚州的森斯·乔·曼钦(Sens. Joe Manchin)和亚利桑那州的基尔斯顿·西内马(Kyrsten Sinema)试图警告他们的政党不要修改参议院规则，他们认为，如果共和党人控制了众议院的多数席位，他们就可以利用较低的投票门槛来推进民主党人强烈反对的法案。
乔·拜登总统只是小心翼翼地介入了这场辩论——这位前长期参议员基本上坚持现有的规则，但也面临着打破投票立法僵局的巨大政治压力。
投票权倡导者警告说，共和党领导的州正在通过限制性立法，并试图以可能颠覆未来选举的方式安插忠于前总统唐纳德·特朗普的选举官员。
去年1月6日，特朗普敦促他的追随者为他的总统任期“拼命战斗”，一群暴徒冲进国会大厦，试图阻止国会为拜登认证州选举计票。这是美国历史上对政府所在地最严重的国内袭击。
参议院阻挠议事规则将如何改变仍在讨论中。
似乎可以肯定的是，阻挠议事的全面结束对民主党来说是遥不可及的。改变规则需要全部50票，曼钦和西内马已经明确表示，他们不愿意走那么远。
在看到民主党结束对一些司法和行政部门提名人的阻挠后，参议员们对全面改革持谨慎态度。共和党人掌权后，共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)取消了最高法院提名的阻挠——将特朗普挑选的三名保守派法官带到了高等法院。
但是，尽管曼钦和西内马不愿意做出重大的阻挠议事的改变，他们都支持选举立法。事实上，曼钦帮助制定了最新的一揽子计划，试图赢得共和党的支持，但没有成功。现在，两位民主党同事正在研究改变阻挠议事的方法，这样至少这项立法可以通过。
与参议员的私下会谈已经进行了几周，并在假期继续进行。
这些想法包括迫使参议员保持传统风格，而不是简单地提出阻挠议事的反对意见——这一场景会让人想起20世纪50年代和60年代南方种族隔离主义者阻挠民权立法的情景。
其他想法也在考虑之中，一些民主党人指出，西内马提到，她愿意听取这些论点，作为全面辩论的一部分。
共和党人非常担心民主党人会结束阻挠议事，以至于麦康奈尔采取了其他行动，试图让曼钦和西内马保持密切关系，这样他们就不会和党内其他人一起做出任何激烈的改变。
犹他州的共和党参议员李政颖周一辩称，结束阻挠议事将使参议院变成一个“蝇王”式的机构，无论如何都是多数人主导。
“这对机构本身来说是荒谬和危险的，”李在一份声明中说。他说，舒默和他的“灾难性计划”必须停止。
Schumer: Senate to vote on filibuster change on voting bill
WASHINGTON -- Days before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the Senate will vote soon on easing filibuster rules in an effort to advance stalled voting legislation that Democrats say is needed to protect America's democracy.
In a letter Monday to colleagues, Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate “must evolve” and will “debate and consider” the rule changes by Jan. 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the Democrats seek to overcome Republican opposition to theirelections law package.
“Let me be clear: January 6th was a symptom of a broader illness — an effort to delegitimize ourelectionprocess," Schumer wrote, “and the Senate must advance systemic democracy reforms to repair our republic or else the events of that day will not be an aberration — they will be the new norm.”
The election and voting rights package has been stalled in the evenly split 50-50 Senate, blocked by a Republican-led filibuster with Democrats unable to mount the 60 votes needed to advance it toward passage.
So far Democrats have been unable to agree among themselves over potential changes to the Senate rules to reduce the 60-vote hurdle, despite months of private negotiations.
Two holdout Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have tried to warn their party off changes to the Senate rules, arguing that if and when Republicans take majority control of the chamber they can then use the lower voting threshold to advance bills Democrats strongly oppose.
President Joe Biden has waded only cautiously into the debate — a former longtime senator who largely stands by existing rules but is also under enormous political pressure to break the logjam on the voting legislation.
Voting rights advocates warn that Republican-led states are passing restrictive legislation and trying to install election officials loyal to the former President, Donald Trump, in ways that could subvert future elections.
Trump urged his followers last Jan. 6 to “fight like hell” for his presidency, and a mob stormed the Capitol trying to stop Congress from certifying the state election tallies for Biden. It was the worst domestic attack on a seat of government in U.S. history.
How the Senate filibuster rules would be changed remains under discussion.
It seems certain that a full-scale end of the filibuster is out of reach for Democrats. Changing the rules would need all 50 votes, and Manchin and Sinema have made it clear they are unwilling to go that far.
Senators are wary of a sweeping overhaul after seeing the fallout that came from Democrats ending the filibuster for some judicial and executive branch nominees. Once Republicans took power, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader, did away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations — ushering three Trump-picked conservative justices to the high court.
But despite their reluctance on major filibuster changes, Manchin and Sinema both support the election legislation. In fact, Manchin helped craft the latest package in an unsuccessful effort to win Republican support. Now the two Democrats' colleagues are working on ways to change the filibuster so at least this legislation could pass.
Private talks with senators have been underway for weeks and continued during the holiday break.
Ideas include forcing senators to hold the floor, old-fashioned style, rather than simply raise their filibuster objections — a scene that would have echoes of the 1950s and 1960s when Southern segregationists filibustered civil rights legislation.
Other ideas are also being considered, and some Democrats have noted that Sinema has mentioned she is open to hearing the arguments as part of a full debate.
Republicans are so worried Democrats will end the filibuster that McConnell has taken other actions to try to keep Manchin and Sinema close so they don't join the rest of their party in making any drastic changes.
One Republican, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, argued on Monday that ending the filibuster would turn the Senate into a “Lord of the Flies"-style institution where majority rules, no matter what.
“It is absurd and dangerous to the institution itself,” said Lee in a statement. He said Schumer and his “disastrous plan” must be stopped.
