The U.S. Congress is pausing today to honor the first legislative giant to emerge in the 21st century, former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who will lie in state in the Capitol rotunda Wednesday. He is only the 33rd person to have that honor in the nation’s history. After the morning service, the Senate will get down to the business promised by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: voting rights and election reforms.

The promised filibuster showdown is probably not going to happen as early as Wednesday, which Schumer teased Tuesday. Republicans have blocked the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement acts from even proceeding to a floor debate several times over the past year. They won’t even let the bills move forward to debate, requiring a majority of 60 votes to get it done. That filibuster could be broken with a simple majority vote if it weren’t for the two pesky Democrats who refuse to do so.

To that end, Schumer and a group of nine Democrats met with West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin Wednesday morning and planned an afternoon meeting with Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema. That’s following “serious, long and intense meetings” with the two yesterday, Schumer said Wednesday morning. As for today, “I met with Sen. Manchin for an hour and we are trying to come to a place. We’re not there yet,” Schumer told reporters after the meeting.

President Joe Biden did what he could Tuesday in his Atlanta speech. “The United States Senate, designed to be the world’s greatest deliberative body, has been rendered a shell of its former self,” Biden told the crowd of college students, civil rights activists, and elected officials. “I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills.” That means, with no Republican support “we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this.” 

“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months. I’m tired of being quiet,” Biden said, the closest he came to calling out Manchin and Sinema for their ongoing obstinance. His message was clearly geared to those two senators. 

“Will we choose democracy over autocracy? Light over shadows? Justice over injustice? I know where I stand,” Biden said. “The question is, where will the institution of the United States Senate stand?”

To intensify the pressure, the Congressional Black Caucus will be joining the fray with a news conference Wednesday afternoon on voting rights.

On this day, when the Senate lays to rest one of its most momentous leaders, maybe his spirit will infuse them. Reid led Senate Democrats into doing the necessary thing to fight Mitch McConnell and preserve the institution by ending the filibuster on critical nominees. May his memory spur them to do it again.