Washington, D.C. — This week, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) joined the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s podcast, “The Tent,” to discuss the path forward on voting rights legislation and the core elements of the Build Back Better Act. He also spoke about Justice Stephen Breyer’s impending retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court and the importance of inspiring younger generations to remain politically motivated and engaged.
“I think that what we have to do is look at what seems to have some modicum of a chance to get voted into law—and that is this so-called Electoral Count Act,” Rep. Clyburn told host Daniella Gibbs Léger. “[Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)] told me right to my face that he’s all for preclearance if it applies to all 50 states. Well, we need it to apply to all 50 states … Let’s move forward now. Let’s put preclearance into the Electoral Count Act. And let’s put stuff in there to keep the votes from being nullified. Let’s put in that act that Election Day should be a holiday.”
As lawmakers restart negotiations on core elements of President Joe Biden’s economic and climate agenda, Rep. Clyburn assured that “a lot of these things are going to get done” and underscored the need to expand access to health care: “Joe Manchin has said to me that he is all for fixing [the Medicaid coverage gap]—creating another element to the Affordable Care Act that will allow subsidies to go to those people who would qualify for Medicaid but happen to live in a state that refused to expand Medicaid.”
Following news that Justice Breyer would retire from the Supreme Court, Rep. Clyburn said that “representation is always important on the court.” He added, “And I think that one of the issues that became very prominent in the campaign back in 2020 was this whole issue of the fact that there’d never been an African American woman seriously considered for the Supreme Court … [Biden] now has that opportunity, and there are several African American women that have been mentioned, one of whom is from South Carolina. So I’m looking forward to this debate, and I think that this could be a game-changer as far as he is concerned.”
Listen to the episode here: “House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn on Voting Rights, the Supreme Court, and More”
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