On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked a new democratic-pushed voting rights protection bill, which dealt another major blow to President Biden's domestic agenda.
Breaking the blocker bill by a threshold of 60 votes reportedly required at least 10 Republicans to vote alongside Democrats, but that didn't happen in the face of widespread Republican opposition.
Last year, several state legislatures ruled by Republicans passed laws that Democrats fear would hinder voting, especially in areas with large numbers of African-Americans, Hispanics and the poor, who are at the heart of Democratic supporters. Democratic senators want to vote to relax or suspend the obstruction rules of procedure to circumvent strong Republican opposition and pass the bill with a simple majority.
But conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has defended him vigorously against changing the obstruction rules, despite his support for the voting rights legislation itself. Overturning the rules requires his vote.
Biden said at a news conference Wednesday that he had not given up hope of advancing the right to vote and that "our options have not been exhausted."