What the Congressional Black Caucus’ next leader wants Democrats to focus on

The incoming leader of the Congressional Black Caucus urged his party to focus on affordability and environmental justice in the next Congress — and the voting rights fight that ripped the party apart the last time Democrats controlled both chambers. In an interview Tuesday, Rep. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the new Congress. “If you ask me to order them, I would tell you they’re all going to be coming at you simultaneously,” said Carter, who is poised to become the next chair of the caucus. But Democrats have looked to pass some version of voting rights legislation since the original blue wave during President Donald Trump’s first midterms, only to be stymied by Republican opposition and a brutal intraparty fight over the Senate filibuster. When Democrats last controlled Congress following the 2020 election, the sweeping bill passed the House amid stiff GOP opposition. It ultimately died in the Senate after then-Sens. Under Democratic control, voting rights legislation has recently gotten the symbolic designation as the first piece of legislation introduced in either chamber. Leaders within the CBC, which was founded in 1971 and is often referred to as the “conscience of the Congress” among its members, hope that the new Congress will have another opportunity to pass the bill. That number excludes some uncalled races — including Scott Colom in the deadlocked Mississippi Senate race. The CBC’s new members in the 120th Congress will “absolutely” help the caucus push its agenda forward, including passage of the John R.