Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated Thursday that he would back an appropriations amendment giving states $250 million to boost their election security.
McConnell signaling support for such funds comes after a month of receiving heavy criticism for not allowing a vote on a bill providing such funds and a number of other bipartisan election security bills aimed at countering foreign attacks from actors like Russia.
Some of those critics dubbed McConnell “Moscow Mitch” for slowing such legislation, much to the chagrin of the Kentucky senator, who called the barbs “modern-day McCarthyism.”
In his opening remarks on the Senate floor Thursday morning, McConnell said he was proud that a financial services bill “will include a bipartisan amendment providing another $250 million for the administration and security of elections to help states improve their defenses and shore up their voting systems.”
Though President Donald Trump has publicly expressed skepticism that Russian leaders were behind attacks on the country’s election system in 2016 and already have such efforts underway for 2020, McConnell said his administration “has made enormous strides to help states secure their elections without giving Washington new power to push states around.”
After McConnell’s remarks, the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement expressing optimism that Republican senators have “finally relented and taken a step in the right direction” on election security.
However, the statement from Schumer’s office added that “new funding is not a substitute for passing the comprehensive bipartisan election security legislation that experts say is desperately needed.”
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Written by Joe Sonka. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.