On Thursday morning, the House passed Democrats' most radical piece of elections legislation yet, the "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act,” along party lines. This legislation combines the "Freedom to Cheat Act" and H.R. 4 into one bill.

On Wednesday, Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer continued his campaign against the filibuster in the name of passing a federal takeover of elections. But Democrat Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are not buying Chuck Schumer's filibuster hysterics. Manchin expressed his continued hesitancy with making changes to the filibuster to a pool of reporters on Tuesday: "To being open to a rules change that would create a nuclear option, that's very, very difficult. That's a heavy lift… Anytime there's a carveout, you eat the whole turkey."

New York City has some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the United States—and they just got worse. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that he would be expanding the city's vaccine mandate to apply to children ages 5 and older:

Children ages 5 to 11 must show proof of one vaccination dose to eat out, see a show, go to a movie theater, visit a fitness facility, or attend indoor entertainment venues by Dec. 14.

After passing the House last week with no Republican support, H.R. 4's next stop is the U.S. Senate. Democrats in the Senate need all the support they can get to pass H.R. 4, and at the center of this effort is the vote of Democrat Senator Joe Manchin. And as it stands now, Joe Manchin has no choice but to vote "no" on H.R. 4 based on his prior statements.