Democrats seek $300M for FBI to fight meddling
WASHINGTON — Top Democrats are calling on Congress to give the FBI $300 million to fight potential foreign interference in this year’s midterm elections, a request that comes just days after the Justice Department indicted Russians for meddling in the 2016 presidential contest.
The letter from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and top Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees calls on Republicans to provide the funding as part of “a robust and urgent response” to the Russian government’s attempts to interfere in American elections.
“Congress must respond immediately to attacks on our democracy by a foreign adversary,” the Democrats wrote. “We urge you to join us in vigorously combating efforts to sow discord in our country and support our state and local officials with the critical resources they need to protect our election systems.”
Democrats say they are seeking $300 million more for resources and labor to counter foreign influence operations in the United States, “especially Russian operatives operating on our social media platforms.” They also call for an unspecified but “substantial” increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Election Assistance Commission’s work with state and local governments to bolster the security of election infrastructure, including voter databases and voting machines.
A massive spending bill is set to be passed by March 23, when current government spending expires. A temporary spending bill passed last month set the spending levels that House and Senate appropriators are now working to fulfill. The omnibus spending bill is set to be the only significant must-pass bill to clear Congress early this year.
The figure sought by Democrats was requested in consultation with FBI leadership, according to senior aides familiar with their talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations. One of the senior aides called the issue “a sense of urgency” that has been especially neglected by House Republicans, who have yet to hold hearings on potential election interference.
The Justice Department announced a sweeping indictment of a notorious Russian group of internet trolls last week, charging 13 individuals and three companies with a long-running scheme to criminally interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Russia’s Internet Research Agency was named in the indictment as the hub of an ambitious effort to trick Americans online into following and promoting Russian-fed propaganda that pushed 2016 voters toward then-Republican candidate Donald Trump and away from Democrat Hillary Clinton.