Senator Mike Lee highlighted the historical significance of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s battle to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in relation to the current efforts to advance the SAVE America Act, a key election integrity bill supported by former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with the Daily Caller on Monday, Lee explained that when the Civil Rights Act reached the Senate in March 1964, supporters were still about 30 votes short of the number needed to invoke cloture, with some uncertainty about the exact count. He described this as a "good example because they were clearly not close to achieving cloture when it arrived."
Lee drew a parallel between his own use of a talking filibuster to promote the SAVE America Act and Johnson’s aggressive floor strategy during the Civil Rights Act debate. Johnson urged then-Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield to keep the Senate in continuous, round-the-clock sessions to wear down opposition—a tactic Johnson had previously employed as majority leader to advance civil rights legislation.
The senator noted that Johnson viewed the Senate as a deliberative body where extended discussion could persuade undecided senators and help opponents ultimately accept the outcome’s legitimacy. Lee acknowledged similarities between Mansfield’s strategy and the approach the current GOP Senate might take to advance election integrity legislation but also pointed out important differences under Republican Majority Leader John Thune.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was ultimately signed into law by President Johnson, with Martin Luther King present at the signing in the East Room of the White House on July 2, 1964.
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