Washington – The House on Wednesday approved HR 1, a comprehensive bill on government reform and elections and a key legislative priority for the Democratic majority. The House also approved the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, although the vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. It has been moved due to a security threat.
Two House sources confirmed to CBS News that there were discussions about raising votes in the House due to the threat. The U.S. Capitol Police ‘have received new information regarding intelligence and intelligence indicating that there is an interest in the Capitol for the dates from March 4 to 6 by a militia group’, the Arms House Sergeant said Wednesday in ‘ a bulletin said.
Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of police in the Capitol, told lawmakers during a hearing on Wednesday that “we do have a little bit of intelligence” and that we have improved our security position. Concerns over the safety of legislators follow the Capitol was stormed by a crowd trying to reverse the January 6 presidential election, with several rioters wanting to harm or even kill lawmakers.
Steny Hoyer, leader of the majority of the House, has announced an updated schedule showing that the House will vote Wednesday night instead of Thursday on the George Floyd measure, which will allow the House to end its work week a day early. to settle and not be in session on Thursday.
HR 1 was adopted with a vote of 220-210. No Republicans voted to approve the bill, which is not surprising, since most Republicans voted against it, saying they believe it amounts to federal persuasion and a democratic coup.
“This is something that is very popular among the American people. The American people want to reduce the role of big, dark money with special interest in politics, which prevents so many good things from happening. The people want to see an end to oppression of the voters, ”Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday about HR 1.
With a vote of 220 to 212, the House also voted to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named after the man from Minnesota who killed in police custody last year after an officer knelt on his neck for a few minutes and a wave of protests against racial violence and police brutality during the summer. Democratic representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Ron Kind of Wisconsin voted against the legislation. Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas voted in favor of the bill, but later tweeted that he did it by accident.
The legislation would ban strangleholds and revamp qualified protection against immunity for law enforcers. A policing reform bill was introduced in the Senate last year by Republican Senator Tim Scott, though it was blocked by Democrats who argued it did not go far enough. Although the two bills have many similarities, they differ in dealing with qualified immunity protection for law enforcers.
After the vote in the House, Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted: “On behalf of the George Floyd family, we are very grateful and grateful for the leadership of the U.S. House. This is an important step forward in building the relationship between police officers and communities. of color to reform. “
The House passed HR 1 in 2019 already after the Democrats took back the majority and passed the Police Legislation Act last year, but no bill was considered in the Senate. Democrats now have a narrow majority of 50 seats in the Senate, but most legislation requires 60 votes to advance. The bills are unlikely to get the support of ten Republican senators, so they the prospects of passing the Senate are grim.
HR 1, known as the “For the People Act”, would review government ethics and campaign funding laws and seek to strengthen suffrage by creating automatic voter registration and expanding access to early and absent votes. The vote on the bill comes as state legislators by the Republic across the country try to restrict voting rights, including measures to limit the acceptance of entries and to set stricter requirements for voter identification.
“We believe HR 1 should succeed because Republican lawmakers, concerned about their losses, whether in their own states or in the country, are once again stepping up their efforts to make it harder for people to vote,” said Steny, leader of the majority of the house, said. Hoyer told reporters Tuesday.
The Supreme Court, which has a Conservative 6 to 3 majority, is also two Arizona laws considered which restricts access to votes, which, according to Democrats, excessively influences minority voters. If the court upholds these laws, it could allow lawmakers to draft even more restrictive voting laws, and a higher standard for lawsuits they want to challenge.
Progressive people have argued that the Senate should eliminate the filibuster, which would allow legislation by a simple majority, to pass their key priorities. Some Democrats argue that it is important to eliminate the filibuster so that legislation on voting rights can be passed, such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Act, which provide for the provisions of the 1965 Voting Act, passed by the Supreme Court. Former President Barack Obama asked to disable the filibuster so that the suffrage laws could pass the Senate during his eulogy at Lewis’s funeral last summer.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock suggested that there could be a limited exception to filibuster rules for bills related to voting rights and civil rights. Warnock was elected to represent Georgia in a special election in January, and the Republican-controlled state legislature recently advanced bills to make early and consent difficult.
“Voting rights retain all other rights, and we must do everything in our power to preserve the voices of the people in our democracy,” Warnock told reporters on Tuesday. “I think the issues are urgent enough to leave all options on the table.”
However, Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have voiced opposition to eliminating the filibuster. Manchin said Monday he will “never” change his mind to end the filibuster.
“Never! Jesus Christ! What do you never understand?” Manchin said.
Nikole Killion and Brian Dakss contributed to this report.