John, 

I wanted to reach out to let you know about some new developments in Washington on the fight to fix our broken democracy.

Today, Senate leaders announced that they would be bringing three bills to the floor for a vote as soon as tomorrow — and The For the People Act is one of them.

Senate leadership will also be breaking out two policies from the For the People Act and voting on them on their own: DISCLOSE, which would shine a light on dark money, and non-partisan redistricting reform, which would stop political gerrymandering once and for all.

Why vote on the whole package and then vote on pieces of it immediately afterward? The answer is an open secret in Washington — all of them will be filibustered.

For months, pundits and skeptics have told us that The For the People Act was simply too broad to gain bipartisan support. Senator Manchin has taken this position, seeking ways to reduce the scope to entice uncooperative legislators to support vital protections for our democracy. With a smaller focus, we’re told, surely members who have resisted pro-democracy legislation will be shamed into doing the right thing.

This vote is about proving once and for all that’s not the case - and that sadly, the senators blocking this legislation will shamelessly support the corrupt status quo until the bitter end. And once it is clear that one party will deny the need to ensure every American has access to fair, free, and secure elections, it will finally be clear to everyone what needs to happen.

After these votes, vital democracy reforms will have been filibustered four times in the last two months. That means elected officials won’t even debate democracy-saving bills that have broad bipartisan support among the American people. 

At this point, we can either keep the filibuster in its current form or save our democracy from the most significant attacks on it in our lifetimes. It is simply not possible to do both. And this week’s votes will show that without a shadow of a doubt.

Our job is to convince politicians that saving our democracy is more important than archaic Senate procedure.

If you’re motivated to do something right now, here are two options: 

1. One of the best ways you can pressure senators is by joining us Thursday, August 12th at 5:30pm ET for a phonebank. We’ll be connecting Americans with five wavering Senators and showing them that their constituents want them to pass democracy reform. 
2. Chip in $10 right now to fund our campaign. From hiring organizers on the ground to driving volunteer opportunities in states across America, we’re doing everything we can to force our senators to pass democracy reform. 

I’ll have more information in the coming days on where we go from here. But for now, thank you. 

Damon Effingham Director, Federal Reform RepresentUs