News

D21 Statement On Sen. Majority Leader Schumer Setting The Stage To Bring Voting Rights To Senate Floor

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 strongly applauds Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his masterful strategy to get the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the Senate floor for consideration without being blocked by a Republican filibuster. Working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, […]

LISTEN: Fred Wertheimer On Biden’s Speech, McConnell’s Threats, And “Decision Time” On Voting Rights

      Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on Background Briefing With Ian Masters on January 11, 2022. (18 minutes)    

Sen. McConnell’s Latest Threats Against Modifying The Filibuster Rules Give New Meaning to “Chutzpah”

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s latest threats against modifying the filibuster rules give new meaning to the word “chutzpah.” McConnell reportedly said today that if Democrats “nuke” the filibuster, Republicans will act “in ways that are more inconvenient for the majority and this White House then anyone has seen in living […]

UPDATE: D21 Report — The Senate Filibuster, 1806 – 2021

View & Download This Report As A PDF By: Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21  |  UPDATED: January 2022 The United States Senate is facing a decision of historic consequence with the fate of our democracy at stake. Will 50 Senators plus the Vice President be able to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and override […]

The Atlantic: It’s Time For Democrats To Break The Glass

“Democracy is at stake this month, and that is not hyperbole.” – D21 President Fred Wertheimer in The Atlantic “The next few weeks will likely answer the most crucial question that emerged from last year’s insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump: Can one political party defend American democracy on its own?” Ronald Brownstein, senior editor of […]

Will The Senate Protect Democracy Or Will The Big Lie Prevail?

  WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  JANUARY 6, 2022 Today, one year after the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol, our democracy faces its greatest internal threat since the Civil War. Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him may well be the most dangerous con job ever perpetrated on the American people. […]

Wertheimer/Eisen Op-Ed In The Washington Post: Fixing The Electoral Count Act Is No Substitute For Real Election Reform

  No one should fall for the Electoral Count Act “bait & switch,” D21 President Fred Wertheimer and Norman Eisen, President Obama’s ethics czar, write.   With the Senate finally scheduling action to address the national epidemic of voter suppression and election hijacking laws, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Republicans have suddenly found an alternative they […]

E.J. Dionne Jr. In The Washington Post: Real Accountability For Jan. 6 Requires Political Reform

 “The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was an attempt, through force and violence, to overturn the will of the majority expressed in a free and fair election,” Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. writes in a new op-ed. “In a well-functioning democratic republic,” he writes, “its anniversary would engender a commitment across party lines to protecting and enhancing […]

It’s Not Too Late To Save Our Democracy. Senate Showdown On Voting Rights Coming In January.

WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  DECEMBER 23, 2021 This has been a very difficult year for the country, starting with the devastating impact of the coronavirus. Nevertheless, we should also recognize our good fortune this year when the effort of a demagogic, lawless former President to pull off a political coup was averted. But, while that […]

D21 Vice President Matt Keller Discusses Status Of Voting Rights Legislation And More In New Interview

  The Surreal News  |  Friday, December 17, 2021   “We’re on the cusp of passing the most transformational reform and voting rights legislation since Watergate,” Democracy 21 Vice President Matt Keller tells Lew Lorini, host of The Surreal News, on his program last week. The Surreal News airs weekly on WSLR-FM in Sarasota, Florida […]