WaPo:

Democrats don’t have the votes to pass their marquee voting bill in the Senate. White House officials, having considered the obstacles they face on Capitol Hill, have focused on unilateral actions they can take as they face pressure to act. The Justice Department plans to make a significant announcement regarding voting rights as soon as Friday, according to senior administration officials. The officials declined to describe the planned announcement further.

Without saying so publicly, some White House officials do not adopt the do-or-die tone many Democrats use when they talk about the For the People Act, the party’s premier voting bill. One senior White House official working on voting rights said that even if that bill took effect, Republican legislatures would find workarounds. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they, like others interviewed for this story, were not authorized to speak on the record….

The White House official working on voting rights expressed strong support for the For the People Act, even though the official felt it was not a panacea. The official said there are other means of fighting the Republican voting laws, through the courts or the executive branch. But the official said such efforts would be cumbersome and acknowledged none would be as effective as the legislation.