Top House Democrat calls out GOP refusal to move voting legislation forward: 'It's a cult right now'

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Math 'not adding up' for Democrats on voting rights standoff: Chad Pergram

The Senate prepares a procedural vote to alter the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation; congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports from Capitol Hill.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called out 16 GOP senators for refusing to support voting rights legislation they once backed and suggested their opposition is a result of their allegiance to their "cult leader," former President Donald Trump.

Jeffries, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said the reauthorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act has been historically bipartisan dating back to the era of President Richard Nixon, and he criticized Republicans in the Senate for opposing voting legislation that Democrats are pushing to pass this week.

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"What happened to the modern day Republican Party?," Jeffries said at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday. "Was it the election that took place in 2008? Did that disturb you? Did that throw you off?"

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries speaks to reporters following a House Democratic Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 2, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

"What happened to the modern day Republican Party that you abandon your own principles?," Jeffries continued. "Principles that Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush espouse and that 16 of you voted to authorize. The modern day Republican Party – it's a cult right now. Is it because the cult leader has told you to oppose voting rights?"

Trump has blasted the voting rights legislation as a "scam" and an effort by Democrats to "make it virtually impossible for Republicans to win elections."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is also opposed to the pair of voting bills and blasted Democrats' attempt to roll back the Senate's filibuster rules to muscle through the election reforms. He said Democrats are planning a "partisan rewrite of election law" in a tweet Wednesday.

Voting rights legislation has been reauthorized four times since the original passage in 1965. Most recently, in 2006, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act passed the Senate and House overwhelmingly with bipartisan support. The vote in the Senate was 98-0 and the House vote was 390 to 33. 

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Jeffries specifically called out 16 current GOP senators who backed the voting rights legislation in 2006 but won't support Democrats' version of the voting rights bill today.

GOP members are McConnell, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John Boozman of Arkansas, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

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Democrats are trying to pass a pair of election reform bills in the Senate this week, but Republicans have overwhelmingly rejected the bills as a federal takeover of local elections. Jefferies said the legislation is needed more than ever in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol and the "voter suppression epidemic" in America.

President Joe Biden exits a meeting with the Senate Democratic Caucus in Washington on Jan. 13, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jeffries also praised Biden's accomplishments during his first year in office, citing job creation, coronavirus relief legislation, vaccination rates and a bipartisan infrastructure deal. Biden's approval ratings have been dismal recently.

"Let's put some respect on Joe Biden's name," Jeffries said. "President Biden has had a very good first year under very difficult circumstances."