As the Senate Intelligence Committee sends recommendations to states on securing election systems, lawmakers from both parties say they are confident that Congress can overcome partisan tensions around Russia investigations and actually help ensure the sanctity of the ballot box in November.
“This is Congress, we’re used to having fights and coming together to do our work,” said Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, who has carved out a cyber role for himself on the House Oversight and Government Reform, Homeland Security, and Intelligence panels. “Relationships are not at risk” due to stresses over the House and Senate investigations into Russian activities aimed at the 2016 elections and beyond, Hurd said.
After a year-plus of congressional probes, it appears lawmakers are ready to distill at least a few lessons into practical advice for state election officials as the 2018 congressional primary season begins in Texas on Tuesday. Those probes continue to spark partisan flare-ups on a regular basis.
But Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said last week that an initial batch of recommendations for states would be delivered “as quickly as we can get it written,” meaning by early this week at the latest.
“We will deliver it verbally to [Texas officials] if it’s not written by then,” Burr said in a brief interview.
Senate Intelligence Ranking Member Mark Warner, D-Va., said a lengthier, potentially more controversial report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections and lessons learned will follow, but the committee leadership wanted to get practical information out to states as quickly as possible.
“My hope is that we lay out recommendations and have experts weigh in at a public hearing,” Warner said. “A more comprehensive report on the 2016 elections will take more time, but we want to get out practical information to states now.”
The bipartisan recommendations, still under wraps late last week, were expected to include guidance such as never connecting voting systems to the Internet and requiring a paper trail for ballots.
However, partisan tensions flared on Feb. 27 with Adm. Mike Rogers’ testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he hasn’t received a direct order from President Trump to counter Russian activities aimed at U.S. elections. Rogers is the outgoing head of both U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.
Democrats pounced on his statement.
“With a president unwilling or unable to put the country and its security first, Congress must act,” House Homeland Security Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and House Administration Ranking Member Robert Brady, D-Pa., said in a statement. “We call on Republicans and Democrats to come together and pass clearly needed election security reforms.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders fired back at congressional Democrats and said Rogers has not been denied any authority, while noting the Department of Homeland Security works with states on securing the elections.
Still, lawmakers from both parties expressed confidence to varying degrees that election security can be tackled on a bipartisan basis.
“Yes,” Hurd said when asked whether Congress will act this year on election security. “This is a whole-of-Congress effort to make sure states are prepared for 2018.” He said all three of his committees are working on recommendations, while also pointing to the work of “outside researchers” on possible solutions to ballot box security.
Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, said he was “hopeful we’ll see bipartisan legislation.” He pointed to the House Democratic task force proposal that Thompson and Brady touted in their release, and also to a bipartisan bill he cosponsored with Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.
The Meadows-Langevin PAPER Act directs the federal Election Assistance Commission to produce “recommendations for states to harden their cybersecurity and develop post-election auditing standards to ensure elections have not been manipulated.”
“Doing nothing is not an option,” Langevin said in an interview. The House Homeland Security Committee has yet to schedule any action on the bill.
But Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in an interview that bipartisan, House-passed DHS reauthorization legislation includes election provisions designed to bolster the department’s efforts to help states.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is expected to complete its consideration of that reauthorization bill this week, which would be an enormous step toward getting a first-time reauthorization of DHS signed into law.
“I’m optimistic they’ll get it done, the piece on elections is very timely,” McCaul said of Senate efforts. “We can’t mandate what states do on elections, but DHS has a very important role” in helping states.
“Cyber is one of those issues where I try to lead in a bipartisan way,” McCaul said when asked about partisan tensions affecting work on cyber issues. “Any national security committee should govern in a bipartisan way. I don’t want to see the Intelligence Committee politicized” by disputes over the Russia probe.
The House Intelligence panel has been ground zero for partisan strife over the election probes. Its leadership could not be reached for comment.
McCaul said he’s called for aggressive counters to Russian activities aimed at U.S. elections, adding, “That’s not a Democratic or Republican issue; that’s an American issue. I’ve said there must be consequences for Russia.”
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in an interview that he still sees bipartisanship enduring around cybersecurity in general, but that he doesn’t see a need for additional election security legislation.
“DHS is already doing quite a few things,” he said, adding that “identifying the right people to notify in states” of cybersecurity issues, and making sure they have proper clearances, is an essential effort that is underway. That didn’t happen in 2016, he said.
“Let’s continue down the current path, get those individuals the security clearances they need, and utilize DHS’ cybersecurity expertise as a resource for states,” Johnson said.
More cyber elements could be added by amendment during this week’s markup, including bipartisan election security legislation by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Another possible addition is language specifying that the industry liability protections of the anti-terror SAFETY Act also apply to cybersecurity technologies.
In any case, the Senate Homeland panel this week will be a proving ground for the state of bipartisanship in the Senate, at least around cyber issues.
