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. Only one Republican senator — Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), who frequently prioritizes deficit concerns — voted for the additional funds. The vote also echoes a similar experience in the House, where Republican lawmakers killed a similar effort to attach election security funds to an appropriations bill last month, on a party-line vote. 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. when we don’t know how the first $380 million has even been spent,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Source: Washington Post August 01, 2018 16:40 UTC