Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.), pictured alongside Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), after the Senate’s February 2009 vote on the bill. A day after news broke that legislation granting D.C. a voting seat in the House of Representatives would be re-introduced next week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) has threatened to filibuster the bill unless changes are made. According to the Hill, Hatch wants language regarding the additional seat Utah would be granted to be changed from…

And so it was — the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won’t…

2:11 p.m. OK, we should be about ready to get going here. We’ve been told there will only be about 15 minutes of debate on this before a vote takes place to prevent a filibuster — as you all know by now, we need 60 for the bill to move forward. I’ll be posting updates as things get going, and Martin may pop in with his two cents if he can, so stay with us…

As the Senate prepares to vote today over whether to close debate on legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, no one can safely say whether the votes will be there to head off a threatened filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made his opposition to the bill painfully clear in a floor speech yesterday, and voting rights activists have been scrambling to gain enough Republican allies to reach…

After letting us all enjoy a good summer break, next week the U.S. Senate will start debating legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. And in preparing for what is sure to be a spirited battle, big-name voting rights activists have recently stepped up the pressure with two back-to-back op-eds in Washington papers. Yesterday Maryland’s former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts penned…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters yesterday that he would definitely not bring the D.C. Voting Rights Act to the floor before September. This is pretty much what we’ve been expecting for the last week or so, but it’s now officially confirmed. It’s a little bit disappointing to have to continue to wait, but considering Reid also described the bill’s status as being “close” to having 60 votes, which would be enough votes…

After a pair of hearings before two Senate committees, a proposal to grant the District a vote in the House of Representatives will be marked up tomorrow. The mark-up, which will occur at 10 a.m. before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is the final step before the legislation — which would grant both Utah and the District additional seats in the House — reaches the floor of the Senate. Thanks to the…

Via Free Ride, which is running a photo we’re totally envious of depicting Mayor Adrian Fenty with a mile-wide grin and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton with what can only be described as a growl-like expression at Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the D.C. Voting Rights Act, it’s worth clarifying a change to the Senate version of bill for the sake of the ongoing conversation we’ve been having about its constitutionality. According to this morning’s Roll…

If you work on the Hill you might still have time to run over to the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342 for the hearing Equal Representation in Congress: Providing Voting Rights to the District of Columbia before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The hearing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., will include testimony split into two panels, the first with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Mayor…

After a rocky road through the U.S. House of Representatives, legislation granting the District a voting seat in the lower chamber will get its first hearing before a Senate committee tomorrow — and pretty much everyone and their mother is set to testify. In a hearing scheduled to start at 10 a.m. before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, eight witnesses will discuss the legislation that was passed in the House on…