Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish MORE (D-N.Y.) on Thursday predicted that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) will bring up election security legislation in the fall after a sustained pressure campaign.

Schumer, while hedging that he's not "naive," argued that Republicans are under fire to move legislation to bolster the nation's elections ahead of the 2020 elections.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I do want to make one prediction: I predict that the pressure will continue to mount on Republican senators, especially Leader McConnell, and they will be forced to join us in taking meaningful action on election security this fall," Schumer told reporters during a pre-recess press conference.

The prediction comes as Republicans have blocked election security bills from passing the Senate. Most of the bills are backed only by Democrats, allowing McConnell and his allies to argue that Democrats are making "gotcha" requests to try to put Republicans on the spot.

"Our friends came to the floor last week and they sought unanimous consent to make sweeping changes to the election laws of the country and then somehow suggested there is conspiracy that anybody would say no to that. ... Unanimous consent means exactly that. It's what we do when we name a post office," Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt Roy Dean BluntSenate to push funding bill vote up against shutdown deadline Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day Senate GOP faces pivotal moment on pick for Supreme Court MORE (R-Mo.) said from the Senate floor this week.

McConnell blocked two bills last week, earning him fierce criticism from Democrats as well as some pundits, including MSNBC host Joe Scarborough Charles (Joe) Joseph ScarboroughScarborough calls on Cuomo to walk back statement he made about Trump: 'Out of bounds' Mika Brzezinski: 'Super grossed out' by Trump speech attendees 'who put their lives at risk' Democrats tear into Trump's 'deep state' tweet: His 'lies and recklessness' have 'killed people' MORE, who nicknamed him "Moscow Mitch."

One bill blocked by McConnell would require the use of paper ballots and includes funding for the Election Assistance Commission. The second would have required candidates, campaign officials and their family members to notify the FBI of assistance offers from foreign governments.

McConnell delivered a fiery speech from the Senate floor on Monday defending his decision to block the bills, arguing that Democrats tried to get consent to pass the bills knowing they would be blocked.

“I was called unpatriotic, un-American and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. I was accused of aiding and abetting the very man I’ve singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich PutinPutin nominated for Nobel Peace Prize Navalny released from hospital after suspected poisoning Ex-Trump national security adviser says US leaders 'making it easy for Putin' to meddle MORE,” McConnell said during a fiery speech from the Senate floor.

He added that his critics, specifically pointing out The Washington Post and MSNBC, were using “unhinged smears,” adding, “Welcome to modern-day McCarthyism.”

The pushback from Republicans has Democrats believing they are getting under McConnell's skin with their criticism. Republicans have warned for months that they will not move the House-passed election security bills or legislation they believe "federalizes" the elections.

Asked on Thursday if the unanimous consent requests were a stunt, Schumer demurred, saying Democrats want "to do something on election security."

"If McConnell would bring something to the floor and we can debate it we wouldn't have to ask for UCs. We're forcing his hand and as I think you've seen by his reaction it's having some success. Because he knows stymieing it is not good for America and not good for the Republican Party and frankly not very good for him," he said.