Democrats push election security
WASHINGTON — Alarmed by President Donald Trump’s willingness to accept foreign dirt on a political opponent, House Democrats are accelerating their efforts to strengthen election security ahead of the 2020 campaign.
Lawmakers had already been compiling a fresh package of bills in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings in the Trumprussia probe. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are now pushing ahead with votes because it’s part of "what the American people elected us to do."
It remains to be seen if passage of bills through the House will break the stalemate in Congress over what to do about election security. While Russia interfered in the presidential election more than two years ago, lawmakers have yet to act on legislation — and there is no shortage of proposals.
Democrats sped up their efforts after Trump suggested Wednesday in an interview with ABC News that he was open to accepting a foreign power’s help in his 2020 campaign. He tried to walk those comments back Friday.
Even though the nation’s intelligence agencies said from early 2017 that it was clear Russia tried to influence the 2016 election in favor of Trump, Republicans who led both chambers did not move comprehensive legislation to address the issue. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has declined to hold a vote on a Senate electionsecurity bill that has bipartisan support.
The House bills seek to secure state election systems, put stricter limits on foreign election interference and provide more oversight of the executive branch, according to aides familiar with the legislation. The House could vote as soon as next week on the first bill in the package, a series of measures to improve state election systems with paper ballots, audits and funding of grants to states.
The bipartisan Senate effort ahead of the 2018 midterm election was blocked by resistance from GOP leadership, taking cues from a White House neutral to the effort. At the start of the new Congress this year, House Democrats passed a sweeping package of election and ethics reforms, but Senate Republicans rejected much of the package as overreach.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tried to pass a separate bill on the Senate floor Thursday that would require campaigns to report any contacts from foreign nationals intending to interfere in a presidential election. But Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee objected, blocking it from passage.