As expected, Senate Republicans filibustered legislation on Monday aimed at helping women fight for equal pay in the workplace, a vote held by Democrats to attack the GOP ahead of the 2014 midterm elections.
The vote was 52 for, 40 against, falling short of the 60 needed to defeat a filibuster.
The legislation cleared an initial “cloture” motion on Wednesday to begin debate, which Republicans may have done to eat up Senate time that Democrats want to use for other election-year votes. The procedural vote on Monday blocks a final up-or-down vote on the bill, ensuring its failure.
The Paycheck Fairness Act was introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and would prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who talk to coworkers about their salaries. It would also require more data collection of employee salaries from businesses.
Democrats widely expected the bill to fail because Senate Republicans have previously blocked the same legislation before in 2012 and earlier in 2014.
