Kaine Statement on Senate Rules Reform Effort to Pass Voting Rights Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after an effort to reform Senate rules to overcome Republican obstruction and pass voting rights legislation was blocked on the Senate floor:

“I am deeply disappointed by today’s vote, but the stakes are too high and the moment too meaningful to give up on voting rights legislation. We will keep fighting to protect our democracy and ensure that people can vote free of obstacles or intimidation. We fell short today, but we laid a foundation to succeed tomorrow.”

The effort to restore the “talking filibuster,” which would encourage debate rather than stifle it, failed on the floor. This proposed change, drawn from the history of the Senate rules, would have prevented endless obstruction and allowed the full Senate to give meaningful consideration to the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, critical legislation on voting rights.

Kaine, a former civil rights attorney, has long fought to protect voting rights and expand access to the ballot box. In September 2021, Kaine introduced the Freedom to Vote Act to improve access to the ballot for Americans, advance commonsense election integrity reforms, and protect our democracy from attacks. Kaine is also an original cosponsor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, introduced in October 2021, which would restore safeguards against potential restrictive changes to voting rules after the Supreme Court gutted those protections in its Shelby County decision in 2013.

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