Democratic Overreach: HR 1 Edition

I mentioned in this week's Sunday School Extra Credit post that I agreed with Wyoming's Sen. John Barrasso when he said

You know, we have a 50/50 Senate. That's what the American people sent to Washington with the vice president breaking the tie. You know, George, that ought to be a mandate to move to the middle. So we ought to do things that actually can get broad, bipartisan support... 

He's right: we should focus on what's critical, not on trying to cram through laundry lists of stuff that are, at best, remotely related to the issue at hand. And that's what happened with HR-1, the For the People Act; it's an 800-page behemoth of a bill being sold as a voting rights package. 

Several provisions apply to people who don't even get elected, to people who are already in office - and, let's be clear, to preventing another Donald Trump presidency. The voting rights provisions would be a heavy lift on their own, but with the add-ons, chances are slim to none that this'll pass the Senate without a VP tie-breaker or a filibuster change. 

Folks at the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice, who support the bill, say the bill "...would make it easier to vote in federal elections, end congressional gerrymandering, overhaul federal campaign finance laws, increase safeguards against foreign interference, strengthen government ethics rules, and more." 

The voting-related provisions have a lot of value - and some overreach, too. (Info below links to the Brennan Center's exhaustive summary.)

Title I — Election Access This title aims to modernize voter registration and take other steps to improve voting access in federal elections. 

Title II — Election Integrity This title would address restoration of the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and several other pressing voting rights issues, and also seeks to curb partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. 

Title III — Election Security This title aims to improve the security of U.S. election infrastructure to counter the threat of foreign interference.

Here are several sections of the bill that aren't related to voting rights.

Title IV — Campaign Finance Transparency The provisions in this title aim to increase campaign finance transparency, deter corruption, and prevent foreign money from infiltrating U.S. elections.

Title V — Campaign Finance Empowerment The provisions in this title aim to counter the harmful effects of Citizens United v. FEC and related court decisions by empowering small donors and taking other steps to help working- and middle-class candidates run for office. 

Title VI — Campaign Finance Oversight This title aims to improve the administration and enforcement of campaign finance rules and take other steps to counter corruption. 

Title VII — Ethical Standards This title would, among other things, require new ethical standards for Supreme Court justices and presidential appointees, bolster enforcement of rules governing foreign agents operating in the United States, and strengthen lobbying disclosure rules. 

Title VIII — Ethics Reforms for the President, Vice President, and Federal Officers and Employees This title would create a variety of new ethics requirements for executive branch officials, including the president and vice president, and bolster enforcement of ethics rules in the executive branch. 

Title IX — Congressional Ethics Reform This title addresses legislative branch ethics.

Title X — Presidential and Vice Presidential Tax Transparency This title would require sitting presidents, vice presidents, and major-party candidates for those offices to disclose their tax returns. 

Are the ethics, oversight, and transparency provisions important? Of course they are, from an overarching, lofty goal perspective. Should we be concerned about political appointees, lobbyists, and foreign influence? Of course we should be. 

But do those have the same immediate impact as do admittedly partisan restrictions and limitations on voting? 

Of course they don't. And, with some 250 voting-related bills under consideration around the country, we should be much more focused on the latter. When we get the voting stuff straightened out, let's pick what's next, and go after that.