U.S. SUPREME COURT

Quick facts

Record: Senate Floor
Section type: Floor speeches
Chamber: Senate
Date: April 29, 2026
Congress: 119th Congress
Why this source matters: This section came from the Senate floor portion of the record.

Linked context

People mentioned: Schumer, Charles E.

Readable version of the official text

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, earlier this morning, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court took another step toward resurrecting the Jim Crow South.

In a decision that for all practical purposes upends half a century

of precedent, defies the spirit of the American Civil Rights Movement, and reverses generations of progress toward racial justice, the rightwing Court today essentially declared it valid and appropriate for States to discriminate against racial minorities in drawing districts.

The Voting Rights Act--a law written in the blood, sweat, tears, and

sacrifice of Americans who marched, who fought, and died for the right to vote and to prevent racial discrimination—has been diminished once again.

The consequence of this decision is as clear as it is dangerous: fewer protections for voters, more power for politicians to draw maps that silence them—particularly historically disenfranchised voters.

The conservative Court has tried to make it seem like its decision

today was narrow and tailored. But let's be very clear. In the words of Justice Kagan, this decision is a “demolition”—a “demolition”—of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. It opens the floodgates for States across the South to redraw their congressional districts and make voters of color essentially invisible in our democracy. By some estimates, this decision could lead conservative State legislatures to draw as many as 19 additional seats that favor Republicans in the House.

So, far from being a narrow decision, this MAGA Court is trying to

give Republicans a leg up—an illegitimate leg up—in future elections.
Let me say it again: This case is the MAGA Court trying to give
Republicans a leg up in future elections.

It is a knife to the heart of some of the most important civil rights

legislation that past generations marched for, organized for, and bled for. It will bring back the old, sinister practices long discarded to the dustbin of history: State legislatures diluting, erasing, and overpowering voters of color.

Shame on the High Court. Shame on the MAGA Justices for rigging our elections.

This did not happen all at once. For years, this Court—beginning with the Roberts decision in the awful Shelby County decision—has chipped away at the Voting Rights Act, decision by decision. Chief Justice Roberts bears a lot of the blame for this awful decision.