Former President Barack Obama has called on the United States Senate to “get the job done” and press forward with voting rights and election reform legislation in an effort to “nurture and tend” to American democracy.

In an opinion essay published by USA Today on Wednesday, Obama threw his support behind President Joe Biden’s call to modify Senate rules to create a filibuster carve-out in the case of voting rights. The essay was the first opinion piece Obama has authored since leaving the White House in 2017.

The threat of a Republican filibuster has been the primary roadblock in the path of both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Both bills are being included in a Democratic Party plan to force debate that has otherwise been stymied by the filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. The Freedom to Vote Act would, among other things, allow for same-day and online voter registration, make Election Day a national holiday, expand campaign finance disclosures and restrict states’ ability to purge voter rolls. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that have been lost following a handful of Supreme Court decisions.

In his essay, Obama referred to the “big lie” of election conspiracies offered by former President Donald Trump — whom Obama did not address by name in the piece — which Obama suggested was used as pretext for legislators in 49 states to introduce more than 400 bills seeking to alter voting laws. He leveled criticism at Republican senators who decried the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection but were “cowed into silence or reversed their positions” on legislation seeking to protect democratic rights.

“Protecting our democracy wasn’t always a partisan issue," Obama wrote. "The Voting Rights Act was the result of Democratic and Republican efforts, and both President Reagan and President George W. Bush signed its renewal when they were in office. But even if Senate Republicans now refuse to stand up for our democracy, Democrats should be able to get the job done with a simple majority vote.”

The filibuster, Obama wrote, has become a “routine way for the Senate minority to block important progress on issues supported by the majority of voters.”

After leaving office, Obama largely honored the unwritten rule among former presidents by not criticizing his successors, though he did notably take stances on the climate change, Iraq and immigration proposals. But 2020 saw Obama step out by supporting the candidacy of Joe Biden and taking public stances on police violence and systemic racism.