Moscow Mitch And The Senate GOP Block Three More Election Security Bills

Nine months until the presidential election, Republicans in the Moscow Mitch McConnell-led Senate blocked three more election security bills meant to secure American democracy.

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According to The Hill, “Democrats tried to get consent to pass two bills that require campaigns to alert the FBI and Federal Election Commission (FEC) about foreign offers of assistance, as well as legislation to provide more election funding and ban voting machines from being connected to the internet.”

All it took was one Republican senator – Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) – to block the measures since “any one senator can object and block” unanimous consent requests under Senate rules.

Of course, since Republicans have no substantive defense of their shameful and repeated attempts to block such election security measures, Sen. Blackburn attacked the process Democrats were taking.

“They are attempting to bypass this body’s Rules Committee on behalf of various bills that will seize control over elections from the states and take it from the states and where do they want to put it?,” she said. “They want it to rest in the hands of Washington, D.C., bureaucrats.”

Rachel Maddow points out the frightening irony

It’s bad enough that Republican lawmakers continue to stand in the way of common sense measures meant simply to protect American elections from foreign interference. What makes it even more troubling is the timing.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out on Tuesday, the GOP’s refusal to approve election security bills comes on the same day the DOJ is allowing the White House to meddle in the Roger Stone case.

Stone, of course, is “due to be sentenced for lying about his efforts to obtain foreign assistance for Trump, and obstructing the investigation into Russian interference in the election.”

Republicans in Congress aren’t just standing silently by as this president tramples all over American democracy; they’re complicit in his efforts.

For anyone who thought Donald Trump learned a lesson following his impeachment trial, Tuesday was your answer.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.