Voting security funds denied
Senate Republicans vote down an extra $250 million for election security before the 2018 midterms, despite heightened warnings of foreign interference and evidence that some lawmakers already have been targeted.
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans voted down a bid Wednesday to direct an extra $250 million toward election security in advance of the 2018 midterms, despite heightened warnings from intelligence officials that foreign governments will try to interfere in the contests and evidence that some lawmakers have already been targeted.
The 50 to 47 vote fell far short of the needed 60 votes to include the $250 million amendment, proposed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in an appropriations package that the Senate was set to approve Wednesday. Only one Republican senator — Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee — voted for the additional funds.
Three other Republicans did not vote: Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, who is traveling in Africa, and John McCain of Arizona, who is receiving treatment for of brain cancer. All four of those Republicans have been critical of President Donald Trump’s refusal to prioritize a more robust response to resist foreign government interference in future election cycles.
The Senate vote comes just one day after Facebook revealed that it had uncovered a complex disinformation operation geared toward the midterm elections, at least some of which appears to be directed by known Russian government-sponsored operatives.
It also comes barely one week after Sen. Claire McCaskill, DMo., revealed that she had been targeted by a Russian hacking campaign that tried, but failed, to compromise her Senate computer network. McCaskill, a conservative Democrat, is running for re-election in a state that heavily favored Trump in 2016.
The vote also echoes a similar experience in the House, where Republican lawmakers killed a similar effort.
Members of the GOP have argued that the extra funds are not necessary, as Congress has only recently approved $380 million in grants to help improve election security in 2018. Although there is some bipartisan consensus that $380 million is not enough to stave off every threat, several Senate Republicans have said that there should be an assessment of how states are using those funds before the federal government throws more money at the problem.
“It is far too early to add another quarter billion dollars … when we don’t know how the first $380 million has even been spent,” said Sen. James Lankford, ROkla.
The vote makes it highly unlikely that Congress will approve any more funds for countering election influence before the midterm elections, despite an ongoing debate in the body over how to counter potential cyberthreats.
Calls for increasing mandatory sanctions against Russia have gone unheeded, as Senate leaders argue for a series of hearings to determine the precise nature of punitive measures that are warranted.