US President Joe Biden will make a personal appeal to Senate Democrats on Thursday to work together to amend the chamber’s rules so that voting-rights legislation can be passed, a day after the Senate’s top Republican launched a scathing attack on the proposal.

Former President Donald Trump’s baseless assertions that his 2020 election setback was the product of voter fraud have sparked a wave of new voting restrictions in Republican-controlled states.

Also read: Joe Biden on voting rights: I’m tired of being quiet!

Democrats regard their voting rights bills as a last-ditch effort to stem the tide before the November elections, when they fear losing their slim majority in both chambers of Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer presented a strategy on Wednesday to assure a debate on the Senate floor, after Republicans blocked three efforts last year.

According to the proposal, which was revealed in a Schumer note to fellow Democrats seen by Reuters, the House of Representatives would shortly repackage and approve two election-related laws into one and send it to the Senate using a special mechanism that prevents Republicans from obstructing debate.

Also read: Joe Biden calls Kamala Harris ‘President’ during speech on voting rights in Atlanta. Watch

In the memo, Schumer added, “We will finally have an opportunity to debate voting rights legislation – something that Republicans have thus far denied.”

But, he warned, if Republicans remain unified in their opposition, even that bill will fail unless all Democrats agree to change the filibuster.

To overcome Republican opposition, Biden asked the Senate to remove or modify the chamber’s “filibuster” rules on Tuesday. Those rules currently need 60 of the 100 senators to agree on most bills, putting Democrats, who hold only 50 seats, at a disadvantage. The tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris gives them the majority.

Also read: US missed its climate targets as greenhouse emissions rose in 2021: Report

Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the United States Senate, retaliated in a Senate speech on Wednesday, labelling Biden’s speech a “rant” that “was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”

Democrats are expected to be short on votes to support Biden’s rule change, as two of their members are opposed to eliminating the filibuster, saying that doing so would result in policy revisions every time the balance of power in Congress moves.

Biden will meet with Senate Democrats on Thursday  “to discuss the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of our elections against un-American attacks based on the Big Lie, and to again underline that doing so requires changing the rules of the Senate,” according to a White House official.

The term “Big Lie” refers to Trump’s false assertions that his election loss was due to widespread fraud.