Of course, the rules-change vote will highlight that Manchin and Sinema aren’t interested in chipping away at the filibuster. Even so, their fellow Democrats are preparing to soon shift the blame to the GOP.

“Republicans haven’t been forced into a conversation about why they would be opposing voting rights at this critical juncture,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters last week. “If we have to go back to people and try to explain why we don’t have voting rights, it is really important that they hear from Republicans themselves why they are blocking this critical legislation.”

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) said in an interview that “it’s sad that you need every Democrat to be able to pass this and that you don’t have enough Republicans in this country that care about democracy and care about voting rights.”

Indeed, frustrations among Black lawmakers are increasingly evident within the party. After leading the battle to protect voting rights for decades and watching minority voters play a central role in Biden’s victory, Black Democrats are both fatalistic and determined about their chances of rolling back the new state-level voting laws.