McConnell’s Election Security Amendment Passes Senate Committee

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved three FY2020 spending bills on Thursday, including an amendment by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the financial services & general government bill which would provide an additional $250 million in election security grants.

McConnell, who has been derided as “Moscow Mitch” by Democrats for refusing to bring up election security bills that passed on party-line votes in the Democratic House, said on the Senate floor that “I am proud to have helped to develop this amendment and to co-sponsor it in committee.” He added that if it becomes law, it will bring the total election security funding enacted since FY2018 to $600 million ($380 million of which was enacted through the FY2018 omnibus spending bill ahead of the midterm elections).

Democrats expressed surprise at news of McConnell backing the election security amendment, with Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), “Did he? Is that right? No more invitations to the Kremlin for him.”

The bill passed the committee on a bipartisan vote of 31-0, but there were some skeptics of the proposal. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) noted that, “We are just handing states money, and they are glad to take it, but we are not even requiring that they spend it at this point.”

The funding package could be considered on the Senate floor in the next few weeks, but it could be delayed until a bipartisan, bicameral deal is struck with the House ― which passed a funding package of its own containing $600 million in election security grants for FY2020 alone earlier this year.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)