Roll Call: House passes voting rights bill as White House, Senate face pressure

Just as the House was preparing to take up a voting rights measure Tuesday, a collection of activists gathered near the White House in Lafayette Square to push for the bill and other legislative priorities. It’s a sign of what’s next.

Their focus was not on the House, which passed the measure 219-212 along party lines Tuesday evening, but instead on the bill’s uncertain path ahead — through the Senate and to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Organizers of the rally, during which some zip-tied themselves to metal barricades across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, made clear they were losing patience with Biden. With a backdrop of the White House and a sign that read “STEP UP JOE,” they urged Biden to use his bully pulpit to gin up support for rolling back the Senate filibuster rules requiring 60 votes for legislation to clear the chamber, chanting at times: “Hey, hey, hey, Joe, the filibuster has got to go.” …

Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, which supports the voting rights and the campaign and elections overhaul bills, said his group was ramping up in support of both measures.

“We’re continuing to mobilize and energize our thousands of activists and volunteers to do whatever it takes to get the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act this fall,” he said.