House Republicans have scheduled their first hearing on the renewal of the Voting Rights Act for this Thursday, according to MSNBC.
The hearing, held by the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, comes in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn a key part of the Voting Rights Act.
The move suggests that Republicans have decided they should at least discuss the ruling, MSNBC notes. But the GOP handed the hearing over to the subcommittee headed by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), one of onlly 33 Republicans who voted against the last VRA re-authorization in 2006–a sign that the party may want to gut any voting rights reforms.
The House hearing comes a day after Senate Democrats’ first scheduled hearing on the Voting Rights Act on Wednesday.
* Correction: The original posted indicated that Rep. Franks is a congressman of Colorado. He is a congressman of Arizona.
