Senate Democrats march forward on their all-but-doomed voting rights bills

Senate lawmakers on Wednesday are expected to debate a set of voting rights bills.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday will try to get closer to a floor vote on the two voting rights bills that have sat inactive for months in the chamber, despite having no apparent path to victory on the legislation.

The Senate had canceled a planned recess this week to debate the two bills — the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — which are all but guaranteed to fail.

Senate Democrats got around a GOP filibuster to start debate on the measure, but under current rules, they would still need 60 votes to end debate and proceed to a vote. Doing so is a dim prospect given Republicans’ unified opposition to them.