House Democrats are moving on from passing President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and tackling two ambitious progressive platforms: Voting overhaul and policing reform.

House Resolution 1, Democrats' 791-page bill, would touch virtually every aspect of the electoral process – striking down hurdles to voting erected in the name of election security, curbing partisan gerrymandering and curtailing the influence of big money in politics.

Lawmakers last week also introduced a bill aimed at reforming policing nationwide named after George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020, sparking worldwide social justice protests against police brutality.

As Congress begins debate this week on the bill, Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If signed into law, it would usher in the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections law in at least a generation.

Republicans see those very measures as threats that would both limit the power of states to conduct elections and ultimately benefit Democrats, notably with higher turnout among minority voters.

The stakes are prodigious, with control of Congress and the fate of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda in the balance. But at its core, a more foundational principle of American democracy is at play: access to the ballot.

“This goes above partisan interests. The vote is at the heart of our democratic system of government,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of the nonpartisan good government organization Democracy 21. “That’s the battleground. And everyone knows it.”

Barriers to voting are as old as the country, but in more recent history they have come in the form of voter ID laws and other restrictions that are up for debate in statehouses across the country.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the efforts by Republicans nationwide to change voting laws "despicable."

"It is difficult not to see the tentacles of America’s generations-old caste system – typically associated with slavery and Jim Crow – stretching into the 21st century," hesaid.

"It’s incredible what they’re doing," Schumer added. "We must do everything we can to stop them."

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), who sponsored the bill, said that outside of Congress “these aren't controversial reforms.” Much of it, he noted, was derived from recommendations of a bipartisan commission.

The Office of Management and Budget issued a statement indicating the administration's support: "In the wake of an unprecedented assault on our democracy, a never before seen effort to ignore, undermine, and undo the will of the people, and a newly aggressive attack on voting rights taking place right now all across the country, this landmark legislation is urgently needed to protect the right to vote and the integrity of our elections, and to repair and strengthen American democracy."

"Consistent with the Administration’s commitment to racial equity, the bill would also expand the tools available to the Justice Department to enforce the voting rights of all Americans," OMB added.

Yet to many Republicans, it amounts to an unwarranted federal intrusion into a process that states should control.

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) excoriated the measure during a House hearing last week as “800 pages of election mandates and free speech regulations” that poses a “threat to democracy” and would "weaken voter confidence” in elections.

Citing Congress’ constitutional authority over federal elections, Democrats say national rules are needed to make voting more uniform, accessible and fair. The bill would mandate early voting, same-day registration and other long-sought changes that Republicans reject.

It would also require so-called dark money political groups to disclose anonymous donors, create reporting requirements for online political ads and appropriate nearly $2 billion for election infrastructure upgrades. Future presidents would be obligated to disclose their tax returns, which former President Donald Trump refused to do.

Debate over the bill comes at a critical moment, particularly for Democrats.

Acting on Trump's repeated false claims of a stolen election, dozens of Republican-controlled state legislatures are pushing bills that would make it more difficult to vote. Democrats argue this would disproportionately hit low-income voters, or those of color, who are critical constituencies for their party.

The U.S. is also on the cusp of a once-in-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts, a highly partisan affair that is typically controlled by state legislatures. With Republicans controlling the majority of statehouses the process alone could help the GOP win enough seats to recapture the House. The Democratic bill would instead require that the boundaries be drawn by independent commissions.

Previous debates over voting rights have often been esoteric and complex, with much of the debate in Congress focused on whether to restore a “preclearance” process in the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court invalidated in 2013. For decades, it had required certain states and jurisdictions with large minority populations and a history of discrimination to get federal approval for any changes to voting procedures.

But Republicans say that Trump's repeated attacks on the 2020 election have electrified his supporters, even as courts and his last attorney general, William Barr, found them without merit.

“This is now a base issue,” said Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and Trump administration official in the Department of Homeland Security who is leading a conservative coalition opposed to the bill. “Democratic leadership is willing to sacrifice their own members to pass radical legislation. They are cannon fodder that Nancy Pelosi doesn’t care about.”

Cuccinelli is overseeing a $5 million campaign aimed at pressuring Senate Democrats to oppose the bill.

Democrats say their aim is to make it easier for more people to vote, regardless of partisan affiliation. And they counter that Republican objections are based more in preserving their own power by hindering minorities from voting than a principled opposition.

“The anti-democratic forces in the Republican Party have focused their energy on peddling unwarranted and expensive voter restriction measures,” said Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her 2018 Georgia bid to become the first Black female governor in U.S. history. “We all have a right to take our seat at the table and our place at the ballot box.”

The bill was an object of intense focus at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend, a gathering where Trump’s lies about mass election fraud took center stage.

In a speech Sunday, Trump branded the bill as “a disaster" and a “monster” that “cannot be allowed to pass."

Meanwhile, CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp told attendees that if they could internalize one thing from this year's conference, it was to “do all you can” to stop “this unconstitutional power grab” from becoming law.

"What we saw this election will be what you will see every single election. And we have to fight it,” Schlapp warned ominously.

Trump and his allies have made false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread voter fraud. But dozens of legal challenges they put forth were dismissed, including by the Supreme Court.

Ultimately, though, the biggest obstacle Democrats face in passing the bill is themselves.

Despite staunch GOP opposition, the bill is all but certain to pass the House when it's scheduled for a floor vote Wednesday. But challenges lie ahead in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

On some legislation, it takes only 51 votes to pass, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker. On a deeply divisive bill like this one, they would need 60 votes under the Senate’s rules to overcome a Republican filibuster — a tally they are unlikely to reach.

Some have discussed options like lowering the threshold to break a filibuster, or creating a workaround that would allow some legislation to be exempt. Democratic congressional aides say the conversations are fluid but underway.

Many in the party remain hopeful, and Biden's administration has said the bill is a priority. But the window to pass legislation before the 2022 midterms is closing.

“We may not get the opportunity to make this change again for many, many decades,” said Sarbanes, the bill’s lead sponsor. “Shame on us if we don’t get this done.”

The House will also debate the police reform bill this week; Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty's office told Spectrum News that "they are hearing the vote will be on Thursday."

The bill would ban the use of chokeholds, prohibit no-knock warrants in drug cases, and establish a police misconduct registry.

But House Republicans say even though they support police reform, the bill is too partisan, and lacks input from GOP members.

The Office of Management and Budget also issued a statement Monday outlining the administration's position on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.

"To make our communities safer, we must begin by rebuilding trust between law enforcement and the people they are entrusted to serve and protect.  We cannot rebuild that trust if we do not hold police officers accountable for abuses of power and tackle systemic misconduct – and systemic racism – in police departments," the statement read.

"The Administration encourages the House to pass this legislation, and looks forward to working with the Congress to enact a landmark policing reform law," they added.

Similar packages passed in the House last year, but the Republican-led senate never had the chance to vote on them. 

With a Democratic majority in the Senate, the bill might get a vote, but it faces an uphill battle to passage if the measure requires 60 votes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.