In an abrupt turnaround, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., now favors providing states with an additional $250 million in election security funding, The Washington Post is reporting.
McConnell’s announcement of his support for the funding came during remarks on the Senate Floor on Thursday.
“I’m proud the financial services and the general government bill included a bipartisan amendment providing another $250 million from the administration to help states improve their defenses and shore up their voting systems,” McConnell said.
“I’m proud to have helped develop this amendment and co-sponsor it in committee.
“That will bring our total allocation for election security — listen to this — to more than $600 million since fiscal 2008.”
The Post noted McConnell had been opposed to additional election security legislation for more than a year. The newspaper said McConnell and Republicans have repeatedly stopped Democratic efforts to bring election security legislation to the floor.
“After months of opposing efforts by (Senate Minority Leader Chuck) Schumer and Senate Democrats to pass meaningful legislation and increase federal funding to secure our elections, Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans have finally relented and taken a step in the right direction,” Schumer’s office said in a statement.
“To be clear, Senate Democrats believe this new funding is not a substitute for passing the comprehensive bipartisan election security legislation that experts say is desperately needed.”
In June, Schumer had said it was “irresponsible” for McConnell to avoid election security legislation.”
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