evidence: Schumer recalled the ghosts of Thurmond. "Throughout America’s history, we’ve seen a continuous cycle of expansions in our democracy being met all too often by vehement backlash against those who wish to maintain an exclusionary status quo," the New York Democrat said. Schumer then flew into a rage, as he pointed to GOP-controlled states that are moving to limit their citizens’ ability to vote by mail or to cast ballots on days before Election Day. "These bills, sadly, are aimed at Americans of color," he said. "Efforts to target these historically disenfranchised communities have become a central component of the electoral strategy of one of America’s major political parties. Shame on them. Shame." [...] That raised the possibility that Schumer could order the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms to bring recalcitrant Republicans to the floor by force, as Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd did in 1988 when he needed a quorum to bring up a campaign finance measure. Byrd got his way when Oregon Republican Bob Packwood was carried from his office.