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House Democrats forced a vote on election security funding this week — and lost again today.
The big picture: This shows that the recent outburst in criticism against President Trump's back-and-forth on whether he believes the intelligence community's assessment that Russia meddled in U.S. elections may not be enough to translate into votes. According to an exclusive Axios/SurveyMonkey poll, Republicans overwhelmingly (79%) approve of the way Trump handled his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trend: This is not the first time the $380 million proposal has been shot down this year, as it has been blocked by both the Rules Committee and House Appropriations.
- Note, all 55 eligible states and territories have already requested to upgrade their elections’ security using $380 million outlined in the omnibus earlier this year.
Why it matters: The funding previously allocated by Congress is not enough to overhaul the electronic voting machines, leaving some states without the ability to ensure election results are accurate.
- Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois is one of several Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff, who have been pushing for the funding. Of more than 20 states targeted by the Russians in 2016, Illinois was one state where voter information was actually stolen. Rep. Quigley tweeted today, "Republicans had a chance to do the right thing...They rejected that chance."
- “It seems that Putin is Trump’s puppeteer, and that House Republicans have decided to join the charade," Nancy Pelosi said in a statement after the vote.
The other side: Republican Rep. Tom Graves has been resisting additional funds because the omnibus funds for election security shot slightly past how much the Help America Vote Act outlines, $3.65 billion. An aide of his tells Axios "the authorized amount is fully funded. If Congress determines that additional funds are needed and authorizes the use of those funds, Rep. Graves is happy to look for ways to help."
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