What a week. The Supreme Court essentially dismantled the remains of the Voting Rights Act, and while they were at it, made sure that dark money takes precedence over votes, particularly votes by people of color. We saw a voter registration effort in Kansas shut down because that’s not legal in Kansas anymore. Never mind the worst effects of global warming hitting decades earlier than predicted while we simultaneously learn that ExxonMobil has been driving the infrastructure debate in the Senate.

There was some congressional progress as House Democrats finally created that select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The House also passed a transportation and water infrastructure bill, a key step forward on the larger infrastructure push. The Senate did nothing. They were out all week. Between now and September 20, the House is scheduled for 9 legislative days, the Senate 20—that’s 10 weeks of legislative lost. Ten weeks that the country needs them to be at work passing legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act, at the very least.

There was some noise from Democratic senators last week about shaving some time off of recess. That noise needs to be amped up into sirens. If Democratic senators won’t listen to bloggers on this, they should listen to their own consultants. Democratic strategist Tad Devine calls voting rights an “existential fight” for Democrats.

“It should be of tremendous concern,” he told The Hill. “You have one political party which is hell-bent on depressing turnout. They’re backed up now by the Supreme Court of the country and the control of the Congress is very tight right now.” Very tight is an understatement. “It’s not theoretical, it’s a real practical fight. It’s clear that they’re attempting to limit participation by people who don’t vote for them,” he added. “I think Democrats have to recognize it for what it is. It’s not as obvious as the Jim Crow laws and civil rights battles when African Americans were denied the right to vote but it’s moving aggressively in that direction.”

He’s wrong there. It is as obvious as Jim Crow now. It’s moving into Dred Scott territory.

Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, sees that, calling the decision “yet another full-frontal attack on our democracy. […] It sent a clear message: While states across the country continue to suppress the votes of Black and Brown people and let the power of big money rig our elections, they will get a free pass,” he said. “Given today’s decision and the nearly 30 anti-voting bills that have become law nationwide, Congress must do its job and pass both the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” Johnson continued. “We will not sit idly by while corrupt politicians try to silence us. We will see you in the courts, in Congress and in the streets.”

That needs to be now in Congress. Some Democrats recognize this and the very real deadlines facing them. Sen. Jeff Merkley, who has been working tirelessly to reform the filibuster for years, called the court’s voting rights decision “outrageous” and said “this is exactly why we need federal protections to ensure every American has equal access to the ballot box.” He said that Congress only has until the end of August to pass this legislation to give state elections officials time to implement the changes it will require before midterms next year. Additionally, states are gearing up right now for redistricting, or in the case of Republican states, more gerrymandering. The For the People Act would prevent that, but it has to happen soon.

Which means the fight to end the filibuster has to happen now, and right now is when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema needs to be put on the spot. It was, after all, her home state that set this new Supreme Court precedent with its voter suppression laws. As one Democratic Senate aide told The Hill, this “should be a wake-up call to her” and “should be effective in refocusing her attention. […] For her own safety and security electorally it’s hard to imagine she’s going to have support,” with her obstinance on filibuster reform. She needs to hear that message now from her leadership, from President Biden.

Oh, and by they way, the nation is probably going to bump up against the debt ceiling in a month, and so far “the U.S. Congress lacks a clear plan to raise it.” That’s kind of an existential thing, too, that really should be dealt with before Congress swans off for three months.