REPUBLICANS BLOCK FOURTH ELECTION SECURITY BILL DESPITE MUELLER'S WARNING RUSSIA IS INTERFERING 'AS WE SIT HERE'

newsweek

Robert Mueller issued a stark warning to Congress on Russian election interference Wednesday: "They're doing it as we sit here."

Still, Senate Republicans have blocked four pieces of legislation that sought to bolster the security of U.S. elections since the former special counsel's daylong congressional testimony, the latest of which came on Thursday when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, blocked two unanimous consent votes.

"The Republican leader has already indicated his intention to bury this bill in the legislative graveyard," said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, on the floor just prior to McConnell's block. Schumer was one of two Democrats who tried to force a vote on one of the bills. "That's a disgrace."

In his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday, Mueller elaborated on his report, which concluded that Russia tried to interfere in 2016 in a "sweeping and systematic fashion."

"It wasn't a single attempt. They're doing it as we sit here, and they expect to do it during the next campaign," Mueller said of Russia. "Much more needs to be done in order to protect against these intrusions—not just by the Russians, but others as well."