Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Requests To Consider Election Security Legislation

Senators Schumer, Warner, Wyden, and Blumenthal spoke on the Senate floor to request that the Senate immediately pass critical legislation to better safeguard our elections against foreign interference

Washington, D.C. – Today, following the Senate’s bipartisan rebuke of President Trump’s attempts to interfere in the upcoming 2020 election, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced a new effort by Senate Democrats to pass legislation to safeguard our upcoming elections against outside interference. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans blocked three separate efforts from Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to pass critical, commonsense legislation to protect our elections, leaving these bills to languish in Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s legislative graveyard. Republicans’ continued refusal to bring these bills up for a vote – bills that put in place commonsense measures to require presidential campaigns to report offers of foreign help to the FBI and to protect voting machines from hacking – flies in the face of advice from the national security and intelligence communities, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who have warned against this danger for many months.

President Trump has shown he would rather undermine the integrity of our elections than protect them. It is up to Congress to protect our democracy and Senate Democrats are not going to stop fighting to put up additional safeguards before the 2020 elections.

Senator Schumer  (D-NY) called on Senate Republicans to support commonsense election security legislation.  

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Senator Warner (D-VA) asked unanimous consent that the Senate pass the FIRE Act, bipartisan legislation that would require presidential candidates to report contact from foreign actors to the FBI. Senator Blackburn (R-TN) objected.  

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Senator Blumenthal (D-CT) asked unanimous consent that the Senate pass the Duty to Report Act, legislation that would require candidates to report offers of assistance from foreign state actors to the FBI and FEC. Senator Blackburn (R-TN) objected without explanation.

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