Pelosi says Congress to get election security briefing in July

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that Congress will receive an election security briefing from administration officials next month, as Democrats put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow votes on election security bills.

“Next month we will take further steps to harden our democratic institutions against attacks, and on July 10 we will receive the all-member election security briefing we requested from the administration so we can continue to protect the American people,” Pelosi said during a press conference.

The Democratic leader announced the date after McConnell told reporters earlier this month that a briefing would take place, while not giving any more details.

Pelosi was joined at the press conference Wednesday by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other congressional Democrats to promote passage of the Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, which the House is set to vote on this week.

Schumer also criticized McConnell for “offering no good excuse for why the Senate can’t have a debate on this bill and any of the others,” adding that “we cannot let Leader McConnell bury this another election security bill in his legislative graveyard.”

The SAFE Act, which Democrats have fast-tracked to the House floor after the House Administration Committee approved it last week in a party-line vote, would authorize $600 million for states to bolster election security, along with giving states $175 million biannually to help sustain election infrastructure. The legislation would also establish cybersecurity safeguards for voting machines to help prevent foreign interference.

McConnell has so far refused to allow votes on any election security bills, citing concerns that the measures could lead to states seeing their authority over elections being eroded.