FREEPORT, N.Y. — A top House Democrat said this week that if the party wins the majority, its first priority in the next Congress will be election integrity — an issue that was central throughout former President Trump’s campaign, making unfounded claims of voter fraud and laid the groundwork for challenging the results if he loses.
In a sit-down interview with The Hill during the campaign on Long Island, Democratic leader Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.) laid out the outlines of an ambitious legislative agenda should Democrats take the gavel next year, including restoring justice Abortion access protections struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022.
But she emphasized that all of Democrats’ policy priorities are based on the central constitutional idea that Americans hold the keys to government and self-determination through their vote. With that in mind, she said Democrats would be the first legislative proposal in 2025 to pursue an effort to protect democracy, with a voting rights bill receiving the coveted HR 1 title.
“We know it all comes down to voting rights and voter safety, and what we have seen are attacks on that right to vote, using misinformation to undermine Americans’ faith in integrity.” [of elections]Clark said. “We have fair and secure elections in this country. … Donald Trump and JD Vance are still denying the 2020 election, which is outrageous.”
Under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat of California), Democrats promoted comprehensive election reforms – aimed at expanding voting access and curbing the influence of money in elections – when their first bill was introduced in both the 116th and 117th Congresses , the last time they controlled the election in the House of Commons.
Pelosi and her leadership team have since resigned. But Clark, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said modern party leaders would follow suit if they win the majority in November, with election integrity and campaign finance as top priorities.
She did not announce which voting rights bill would advance a potential majority, but offered two options.
One is the For the People Act, which won HR 1 in the last two congressional terms when Democrats had the majority. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), aimed to expand voter access, make it harder for states to purge voter rolls, overhaul the campaign finance system to limit the power of wealthy interest groups and close presidential elections demand candidates must publish ten years of tax returns. Each of these issues emerged this year in the dispute between Trump and Vice President Harris.
The measure was approved by the House of Representatives in 2019 and 2021 but failed in the Senate.
Clark also pointed to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013. The eliminated provision required states with proven voter discrimination — most of them in the South — to win federal approval before changing their election procedures. The Democratic bill introduced by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) would restore those preclearance protections by updating the formula that determined which states are subject to additional scrutiny.
“It’s going to be the right to vote, whether it’s John Lewis or Sarbanes,” Clark said. “But HR 1 will be a voting rights bill.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who is expected to become speaker if Democrats win the majority in November, is reluctant to reveal details of his party’s agenda should Democrats prevail in the House next year. In addition to reproductive rights, he has indicated that efforts to reduce housing costs and expand family tax credits were high on the party’s to-do list.
But during his final news conference at the Capitol before the long campaign break, he told reporters he needed to talk to his caucus before determining what bills they would introduce in the first 100 days of a Democratic majority.
At a rally on Long Island in support of Laura Gillen, who is running to unseat Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R) in New York’s 4th Congressional District, a key battleground, Jeffries stressed the importance of voting rights of Americans – and mentioned the John Lewis bill.
“This is one of only four seats we must win to take control of the House of Representatives. No pressure on y’all, but one of four seats we need to win,” Jeffries said. “If you send Laura Gillen to the United States Congress, we will ensure that we pass the John Roberts Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act so that we can end the era of voter suppression in the United States of America once and for all. No one can take away your voice, your power, your ability to determine your future.”
The comments come as both parties are frantically racing in the final stages of the campaign to shore up voter support in parallel contests for control of the House of Representatives and the White House, both of which are still too close to each other. to make a decision.
Democrats have focused much of their campaign message on Trump’s behavior after the 2020 election, when he spread false claims that he had won the race against Joe Biden, only to have it “stolen” by a conspiracy of corrupt Democrats, state election officials and foreign governments get and technology companies. This baseless narrative and Trump’s refusal to admit defeat led directly to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump’s supporters unsuccessfully tried to keep him in office by preventing Congress from recognizing Biden’s victory to confirm.
House Democrats and 10 Republicans have impeached Trump for his role in the shooting. But the Republican-controlled Senate, led by then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), declined to convict and authorized Trump to run for a second term.
The saga remains a controversial issue in this year’s election campaign, with Trump continuing to insist he won the 2020 contest and his closest allies in the Republican Party – from Vice President Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R- La.) — have rejected numerous opportunities to set the record straight.
Instead, they have embraced Trump’s warnings that armies of undocumented immigrants are poised to vote illegally and flip the race in favor of Harris and the Democrats this year — another false claim that nevertheless resonates with the GOP’s conservative base.
“We all know intuitively that many illegals vote in federal elections” Johnson said earlier this year. “But it wasn’t easily detectable.”
While voting rights will be a top priority for House Democrats if they win the majority next year, women’s reproductive rights are likely to follow close behind as frustration remains high following the overturn of Roe vs. Wade.
Democrats have also raised alarm about the remaining effects of the Supreme Court decision, including efforts to restrict access to in vitro fertilization.
When asked what other issues a Democratic majority would immediately address, Clark was quick to mention “reproductive freedom.”
“We will vote to ensure the stories we hear about women being denied basic health care in a crisis,” the whip said. “This is a national horror show aimed at women. It’s a denial of health care.”
“This focus on health care and ensuring that we restore equality for women in his country, that we have protections so that pregnant women can receive the care recommended by their doctors when they need it, will be one of the top priorities of this Congress.” in the future,” she added.
Clark wouldn’t say whether women’s reproductive rights would receive the HR 2 designation — “these will be decisions that Speaker Hakeem Jeffries will make with his leadership team” — even though Democrats have continually debated the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify the protections afforded by Roe v. Calf.
Democrats need to pick up a net four seats to take control of the chamber, a feat that would lift the party out of the minority wilderness it has found itself in for two years and defeat Jeffries, Clark and Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.) would strengthen. ), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Clark said the Troika has been hatching plans for a possible majority. For now, however, the group is fully focused on the task ahead: winning at least 218 seats to secure a majority in the House of Representatives.
“We are making plans for the future. We’ll be ready,” Clark said. “But we are too, our priority is to win on November 5th. And that is the first step in the crucial process of ending the chaos, ending this extremism and restoring the voice of the people in that process.”
