Congressional Democrats on Wednesday vowed to fight with what limited power they have from the minority in the House and the Senate against the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a voting map in Louisiana.
“Today’s decision by this illegitimate Supreme Court majority strikes a blow against the Voting Rights Act and is designed to undermine the ability of communities of color all over this country to elect their candidate of choice,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a Congressional Black Caucus press conference on Wednesday. “But we’re not here to step back, we’re here to fight back.”
The court’s 6-3 decision weakens a key provision of the Voting Rights Act — a landmark 1965 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in voting — and limits the consideration of race in drawing congressional maps. It strikes down a majority-Black district in Louisiana and could precipitate the elimination of other majority-Black districts represented by Democrats elsewhere in the country.
Republicans celebrated the ruling.
“Today’s decision is a victory for the Constitution and the principle that every American citizen is equal under the law. The Supreme Court made clear that our elections should be decided by voters, not engineered through unconstitutional mandates,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC., said in a statement.
