On Tuesday evening, the Senate rejected the Corrupt Politicians Act when it failed to receive the necessary votes to invoke cloture. Democrats are already claiming that the Republicans rejected a common sense compromise, but the reality is that the Manchin "compromise" was not a compromise — it had no bipartisan support. More importantly, the "compromise" was not actually being voted on today. As many Republican Senators, including Leader McConnell and Rules Ranking Member Roy Blunt, pointed out, the bill voted on today was essentially the same as the original.

Last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Department of Justice would be expanding its voting rights staff to directly oppose GOP efforts seeking to enact state voting laws that promote fair and honest elections. As a piece by RedState put it:

[Garland] made it clear that the work of DOJ would be to advance the causes and interests of the Democrat Party for the purpose of improving its chances at the ballot box. . .

On Friday, the Committee on House Administration's Elections Subcommittee held a hearing entitled, "Voting In America: The Potential For Polling Place Quality And Restrictions On Opportunities To Vote To Interfere With Free And Fair Access To The Ballot." Democrat hypocrisy was on full display as they conveniently ignored how many of the areas that experienced problems with voting in 2020 due to polling place closures were run by Democrat elections officials.

Democrats will lead people to believe that the Corrupt Politicians Act is about voting rights. But as NRSC Communications Director Chris Hartline points out, the Corrupt Politicians Act is all about "ensuring that Democrats win more elections."

As we noted earlier this week, one of the most contentious issues that came up during Senate Rules' markup of the Corrupt Politicians Act was felon voting rights. As multiple Republicans pointed out, reasonable minds can differ on the issue, but the Democrats have taken it too far. Their position is so problematic that it's worth a second look.

In a marathon hearing today, the Senate Rules Committee held a markup for S.1, the Senate version of the "Corrupt Politicians Act." The hearing covered a variety of topics, but one thing is abundantly clear: the Corrupt Politicians Act is a partisan power grab, and Democrats will do whatever they can to gain as much power as possible. As Senator Hagerty put it, S.1 is a "power grab in search of a crisis." The vote to advance the bill was tied at 9-9, but under Senate rules, the legislation will advance to the floor for consideration.

Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution states: “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” Yet H.R.1, nicknamed the "Corrupt Politicians Act," clearly states (emphasis added):

An individual is eligible to  serve as a member of an independent redistricting  commission if the individual meets each of the following criteria: . . .

(iv) The reason or reasons the individual desires to serve on the independent redistricting commission, the individual’s qualifications, and information relevant to the ability of the individual to be fair and impartial, including, but not limited to— (I) any involvement with, or financial support of, professional, social, political, religious, or community organizations or causes;

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing about recent state election reforms across the country. The title of the hearing itself was an offensive and insensitive characterization of the reforms, saying they are a repeat of the discriminatory voting laws in the Jim Crow South.

RM @ChuckGrassley: "The title of this hearing is offensive. . . This title diminishes the very real challenges and unfairness that minorities endured in the Jim Crow South at the hands of Southern Democrats. . . Polarizing rhetoric that distorts history is not helpful."

— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 20, 2021

Former Vice President Mike Pence is sounding the alarm on H.R. 1. In an op-ed published by The Daily Signal, he explained:

Congress will vote this week on HR 1, the so-called For the People Act, a massive 800-page election overhaul bill that would increase opportunities for election fraud, trample the First Amendment, further erode confidence in our elections, and forever dilute the votes of legally qualified eligible voters. . .

If there is one thing that unites those concerned with free speech; open fair and honest elections; libertarians and conservatives; and the GOP and ACLU; it is opposition to HR1.  Today we’ll highlight three groups opposition. 

First, we want to highlight the opinions of those who know elections best, the Secretaries of State who wrote a letter opposing HR 1:

We are writing you today to urge you to reject the “For the People Act” otherwise known as H.R. 1 or S. 1, which is a dangerous overreach by the federal government into the administration of elections.

Each state legislature should have the freedom and flexibility to determine practices that best meet the needs of their respective states. A one-size-fits-all approach mandated by Congress is not the solution to any of our problems.

These bills intrude upon our constitutional rights, and further sacrifice the security and integrity of the elections process. We firmly believe the authority to legislate and regulate these changes should be left with the states.