Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he is considering a bill that would sanction Russia to deter the country from meddling in the 2018 midterm elections.
“The Russians better quit messing around in our elections,” the Kentucky Republican said, speaking to reporters after a closed-door GOP luncheon. “I’ll make that perfectly clear. The Russians better quit meddling around in our elections. They did it the last time. They better not do it again.”
McConnell’s threat to Russia comes in the wake of intense criticism of President Trump for not taking a firmer public stance against Russian meddling when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki earlier this month.
[Opinion: No president has been tougher on Russia than Trump]
Trump at first suggested Russia hadn’t meddled in the election then walked that back.
Afterwards, Trump invited Putin to the United States in the fall for another round of talks.
McConnell wouldn’t comment on Trump’s invitation, telling reporters, “The speaker and I have made it clear Putin will not be welcome up here at the Capitol.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who invites foreign leaders to address Congress, said Tuesday he won’t be inviting Putin because such an invitation is reserved for U.S. allies.
Senate Republicans are now considering a vote on bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., that would quickly impose sanctions on Russian finance, energy, defense, metals, and mining industries in the event U.S. intelligence determines Russia interfered in the election.
McConnell wouldn’t commit to a floor vote, but told reporters, “We are open to looking at all of that” in the coming weeks.
McConnell’s threat to Russia came hours after Trump tweeted that he believes Russians will try to tamper with the 2018 election process, but in favor of Democrats.
“We all know the Russians interfered in the last election,” McConnell said, responding to a question about the Trump tweet. “The question is, are they going to do it again?”
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the GOP Conference Committee chairman, said lawmakers are growing more enthusiastic about the Rubio-Van Hollen measure.
“There’s a lot of interest in it,” Thune said. “It would be kind of a pre-emptive strike which I think would get the Russians’ attention for sure. I think in the discussions about that, the question about whether or not the Russians are actively involved this time around when our intelligence agencies say they are, I think you have to proceed accordingly. That proposal is one that is generating a good amount of interest. It’s a pretty sound approach, really.”
The Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act, or DETER, Act, would slap any nation with the sanctions if the director of national intelligence determines the country meddled in the elections.
Both Rubio and Van Hollen have been urging the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees to advance the legislation.
“The Senate has the opportunity to highlight to the American public the real threats that foreign interference in our future elections pose, and to act to deter future foreign interference and defend our country,” Rubio and Van Hollen wrote to the panel chairs last week.
