Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants a classified briefing from Trump administration officials about steps they are taking to protect the integrity of U.S. elections. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo congress Schumer presses for election security boost after Mueller report

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday called for swift action to boost election security in 2020 in the wake of the Mueller report.

In a letter to his Senate Democratic colleagues, the New York Democrat blasted the Trump administration for “not forcefully and adequately responding to the attack on our democracy” described in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.


Schumer’s letter comes ahead of the caucus’ first meeting since the release of Mueller’s report and one day before Attorney General William Barr is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the investigation.

Schumer wants a classified briefing from Trump administration officials about steps they are taking to protect the integrity of U.S. elections, including from the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Cyber Command.

“We need to ensure the leaders of these organizations have their voices heard,” Schumer wrote.

The New York Times reported last week that former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was told by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney not to bring up election security with the president.

Schumer also called for bipartisan legislation to better secure elections — including with additional funding to help state and local election officials — and for new sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

