Democrats, for their part, are daring the 50-vote minority to block the modest legislation amid a spike in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic. While the GOP has yet to make a conference-wide decision, Wednesday’s vote could serve as a data point for Democratic senators seeking to persuade more of their colleagues to scrap the 60-vote threshold that has left some of President Joe Biden's most progressive priorities to languish in the upper chamber. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said that Republicans are considering voting to open debate and offering amendments on the hate crimes measure. Some in the GOP may want “an opportunity to engage in a discussion about how to make it better, how to improve it," Thune said of the bill... Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) described the decision before the GOP as a test for the filibuster as the party weighs whether to engage on the issue. After all, Durbin observed: "Who can’t say that hate crimes against Asian Americans and others [are] reprehensible?” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer chose the relatively narrow hate crimes bill for his first use of legislative floor time after he successfully steered Biden’s Covid recovery plan into law. That selection in itself, as opposed to an alternate bipartisan proposal designed to tackle rising bias crimes, suggests that Democrats may see an upside in teeing up a filibuster fight on a politically popular topic like preventing discrimination.