Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he is backing an amendment to improve election security after Senate Democrats slammed him for blocking bipartisan election legislation.
The amendment, as part of an appropriations package, provides an additional $250 million to the Trump administration to assist states with improving their voting systems and preventing foreign interference.
“I am proud to have helped develop this amendment and to co-sponsor it in committee,” McConnell said on the floor.
McConnell added that the amendment brings the total funding for election security to $600 million since fiscal year 2018.
Senate Democrats have pressed McConnell to bring to the floor election security legislation, citing Russian interference in the 2016 election. But McConnell and many Republicans oppose that legislation, noting that 2018 was a more secure election and citing concerns about centralizing the U.S. election system. That reluctance has prompted critics to label the Kentucky Republican “Moscow Mitch” — a nickname the majority leader has made clear he disdains.
Following McConnell’s announcement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Senate Republicans “have finally relented and taken a step in the right direction.”
“Senate Democrats believe this new funding is not a substitute for passing the comprehensive bipartisan election security legislation that experts say is desperately needed,” Schumer said in an e-mail to reporters.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine