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Federal '''Anti-lynching laws''' had been proposed over 200 times but never adopted.<ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2018/07/01/on-ideology-and-anti-lynching-legislation/ On Ideology and Anti-Lynching Legislation]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref> The first time an anti-lynching bill passed the House was on January 26, 1922. The Dyer bill passed the House 230–120, with 221 [[Republican]]s, 8 Democrats, and 1 Socialist voting for, while 17 Republicans and 103 Democrats voted against.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-2/h169 TO PASS H. R. 13.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref> 95% of Republicans, 47% of Northern Democrats, and 1% of Southern Democrats voted for the measure, with Ben Johnson (D–Ky.) standing alone among them. In the [[Texas]] congressional delegation, only the moderately conservative<ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/67th-congress.pdf 67th-congress.pdf]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved August 18, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/1921-23-mc-index-descriptions-1.pdf 67th House(1921-23) Votes]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved August 18, 2021.</ref> Republican [[Harry Wurzbach]] voted in the affirmative, with his racist liberal Democrat colleagues opposing it. [[Democrat]] senators succeeded in killing the bill.<ref>[https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Temporary-Farewell/Anti-Lynching-Legislation/ Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed]. ''US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://scalar.usc.edu/nehvectors/stakeman/dyer-anti-lynching-bill Dyer Anti-lynching Bill]. ''The Walter White Project''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref>

Federal '''Anti-lynching laws''' had been proposed over 200 times but never adopted.<ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2018/07/01/on-ideology-and-anti-lynching-legislation/ On Ideology and Anti-Lynching Legislation]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref> The first time an anti-lynching bill passed the House was on January 26, 1922. The Dyer bill passed the House 230–120, with 221 [[Republican]]s, 8 Democrats, and 1 Socialist voting for, while 17 Republicans and 103 Democrats voted against.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-2/h169 TO PASS H. R. 13.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref> 95% of Republicans, 47% of Northern Democrats, and 1% of Southern Democrats voted for the measure, with Ben Johnson (D–Ky.) standing alone among them. In the [[Texas]] congressional delegation, only the moderately conservative<ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/67th-congress.pdf 67th-congress.pdf]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved August 18, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://fascinatingpolitics.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/1921-23-mc-index-descriptions-1.pdf 67th House(1921-23) Votes]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved August 18, 2021.</ref> Republican [[Harry Wurzbach]] voted in the affirmative, with his racist liberal Democrat colleagues opposing it. [[Democrat]] senators succeeded in killing the bill.<ref>[https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Temporary-Farewell/Anti-Lynching-Legislation/ Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed]. ''US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://scalar.usc.edu/nehvectors/stakeman/dyer-anti-lynching-bill Dyer Anti-lynching Bill]. ''The Walter White Project''. Retrieved June 8, 2021.</ref>

The next serious effort was the [[Costigan–Wagner Act]] proposed during the [[New Deal]] era. The sponsors were Senators Edward Costigan of Colorado and Robert Wagner of New York. The bill met the same fate as the Dyer bill at the hands of Democrats and was killed without having a definitive up or down vote. When it was first introduced in 1934, Democratic Majority Leader [[Joseph T. Robinson]] ignored Costigan's request to take it up, and when unanimous consent was asked before the chamber, Southern Democrat Ellison D. Smith and Kenneth McKellar blocked the motion.<ref>Greenbaum, Fred (1967). [https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-human-relations_third-quarter-1967_15_3 "The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935: The Irony of "Equal Justice—Under Law"]," p. 76–77. Internet Archive. Retrieved December 3, 2022.</ref> When later reintroduced in 1935, a series of adjourning motions were plotted by Robinson to indefinitely stall the legislation; on May 1, after political trading materialized, several senators (including [[Harry Truman]]) sided with the anti–civil rights forces and voted to adjourn the chamber, effectively killing the Act.<ref>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," p. 83.</ref>

The next serious effort was the [[Costigan–Wagner Act]] proposed during the [[New Deal]] era. The sponsors were Senators Edward Costigan of Colorado and Robert Wagner of New York. The bill met the same fate as the Dyer bill at the hands of Democrats and was killed without having a definitive up or down vote. When it was first introduced in 1934, Democratic Majority Leader [[Joseph T. Robinson]] ignored Costigan's request to take it up, and when unanimous consent was asked before the chamber, Southern Democrat Ellison D. Smith and Kenneth McKellar blocked the motion.<ref>Greenbaum, Fred (1967). [https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-human-relations_third-quarter-1967_15_3 "The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935: The Irony of "Equal Justice—Under Law"]," p. 76–77. Internet Archive. Retrieved December 3, 2022.</ref> When later reintroduced in 1935, a series of adjourning motions were plotted by Robinson to indefinitely stall the legislation; on May 1, after political trading materialized, several senators (including [[Harry Truman]]) switched sides towards the anti–civil rights forces and voted to adjourn the chamber, effectively killing the Act.<ref>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," p. 83.</ref>

[[File:Southern Democrat filibuster of anti-lynching legislation.png|thumb|left|330px|Southern senators (from left to right) [[Tom Connally]], [[Walter F. George]], [[Richard Russell, Jr.]], and [[Claude Pepper]] filibustering anti-lynching legislation in 1938; all four were liberal New Dealers.]]

[[File:Southern Democrat filibuster of anti-lynching legislation.png|thumb|left|330px|Southern senators (from left to right) [[Tom Connally]], [[Walter F. George]], [[Richard Russell, Jr.]], and [[Claude Pepper]] filibustering anti-lynching legislation in 1938; all four were liberal New Dealers.]]