South Carolina's Republican Senator Lindsey Graham recently told Fox News host Sean Hannity he would filibuster to prevent the passage of the Equality Act or the For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1) "until [he] fell over."
Graham also seemed a bit confused about the purpose and scope of the Equality Act during his conversation with Hannity.
"I would talk until I fell over to make sure that the Equality Act doesn't become law, destroying the difference between men and women."
Contrary to Senator Graham's insistence, the Equality Act would not destroy "the difference between men and women." The act, which passed the House in February, would expand existing civil rights laws to include protections for LGBTQ+ people.
While the bill has passed the House, it faces a tougher time in the Senate. Democrats have a narrow majority in the chamber with the Vice President's tie-breaker vote and, under current rules, a 60 member majority is required to end a filibuster.
Graham's comment about falling over to prevent the acts from passing was in reference to President Joe Biden's proposed changes to how filibusters work. Currently, lawmakers who choose to filibuster a bill are not required to actually talk to fill up the time as was historically required.
A Senator can simply have a member of their staff send out an email stating their opposition to the bill.
The President, however, believes this practice should change, according to his recent interview with ABC News.
"I don't think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days."
"You had to stand up and command the floor. It's getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time functioning."
Lindsey told Hannity he was also determined to stop the For the People Act of 2021 which provides voting rights.
"Here's what Biden needs to understand: if you go to the talking filibuster, we will take the floor to stop H.R. 1. I will talk till I fell over, to make sure that we don't go to ballot harvesting and voting by mail without voter ID."
You can view the full clip of Hannity's segment below.
Twitter users did not take kindly to Graham's insistence he would do everything in his power to block the bills.
The Equality Act would bring federal protections in line with those already on the books in several states. The For the People Act of 2021 would help protect people's ability to vote.
While GOP Senator Graham certainly doesn't approve of equality for LGBTQ+ people or voting rights for all citizens, polls show most Americans do.
