With federal voting rights legislation stalled in Congress, Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists are calling on the Biden administration to issue a new executive order aimed at better protecting voters against restrictive state election laws.

Democrats and activists are increasingly disappointed with the lack of progress on passing sweeping voter protection legislation. And with high-stakes midterms elections looming, there's also growing concern about ballot access for voters of color — historically a key voting bloc for Democrats.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, , an Ohio Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said the Biden administration should "do whatever is necessary, whether that's an executive order, whether that is us figuring out a legislative approach that we can get through."

White House officials said they haven’t ruled out any avenues.

"Everything's on the table,’’ Cedric Richmond, senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement told USA TODAY.

He added: “Where there's constitutional things we can do you can look for us to do them.”

Executive authority has limits

Biden signed an executive order last March marking the commemoration of “Bloody Sunday,’’ when peaceful voting rights activists were beaten by state troopers in 1965 as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

The order directs federal agencies to expand access to voter registration and election information. Among other things, it urges federal agencies to allow workers to volunteer as poll workers and sets up a steering group to look into ways to improve voter access for Native Americans.

Voters of color have long faced barriers to casting ballots, including poll taxes and intimidation. Advocates contend election laws adopted by GOP-controlled legislatures aim to suppress turnout.

Republicans have said the bills protect against voter fraud.

By mid Janu­ary, lawmakers in at least 27 states had intro­duced, pre-filed or carried over 250 bills with restrict­ive provisions, including imposing stricter ID requirements, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

From early on, Biden backed Democratic measures to expand federal voting rights protections. He also urged Congress to pass the bills in his State of the Union address last month.

Vice President Harris, who has been tasked with leading the White House fight for voting rights, joined civil rights activists in Selma last month for the annual commemoration of the march.

Later that month, Harris unveiled recommendations to improve access for Native Americans and voters with disabilities. “We are fighting, all of us, together every day to safeguard and to strengthen the freedom to vote,’’ she said.