On April 23, 2008, by a vote of 56-42, Senate Democrats failed to garner the necessary 60 votes to invoke cloture and end debate on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 (H.R. 2831, S. 1843), which would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., No. 05-1074 (May 29, 2007). In Ledbetter, the Supreme Court rejected a continuing violation theory that would restart Title VII’s 180-day time limit every time an employee receives a discriminatorily-disparate paycheck. S. 1843 would have reversed this decision by amending Title VII to allow claims brought within 180 days of receiving any paycheck affected by a discriminatory decision involving pay, no matter how far in the past the underlying act of discrimination allegedly occurred.

Senate Democrats fell only three votes short of invoking cloture, gaining the support of six Republicans:  Sen. Coleman (R-MN), Sen. Collins (R-ME), Sen. Smith (R-OR), Sen. Snowe (R-ME), Sen. Specter (R-PA), and Sen. Sununu (R-NH).  Majority Leader Sen. Reid (D-NV) supported cloture, but voted with Republicans as a procedural maneuver that allows him to bring the bill back to the floor at a later time.

The Bush Administration has threatened to veto the legislation in the event of passage. The bill previously passed the House on July 31, 2007.