On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer notified Senate Democrats he is prioritizing an effort to “restore the Senate,” and do something about the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation. Politico has a bit more information on what “restore the Senate” means, and also why Schumer is so intent on trying to get the budget reconciliation for President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan done before Christmas. For one thing, they’ve got to have the Sen. Joe Manchin issue dealt with, and BBB behind them, before they can tackle reforming the filibuster rules. They’re not talking about abolishing the filibuster, and it won’t be for every issue, but there is actually a team of middle-of-the-road senators who are working with leadership and long-time liberal reformers like Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley to get some changes made. That’s very real progress, albeit small. But if they can restore voting rights early on in the year, there’s at least a fighting chance for Democrats not to lose everything in next year’s midterms. Read more