Washington (CNN) Former White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on Sunday defended the Obama administration's response to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election, blaming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for what he called a "dramatically watered down" joint statement on election security in September 2016.

McDonough told NBC's "Meet the Press" that McConnell downgraded the language of the letter "asking the states to work with us" on election security, adding that members of Congress had a "stunning lack of urgency" over the matter.

"The lack of urgency that we saw from the Republican leadership in 2016 we continue to see to this day today. It's beyond time for Congress to work with the administration, to work with the states, to ensure that our electoral systems are ready to go. This is not a game," McDonough said.

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said in response that he would "let McDonough respond to McDonough" and pointed to an op-ed McDonough wrote last year that referenced the statement.

McDonough wrote: "This joint, bipartisan statement was thought by the White House to be particularly important since state and local authorities had been reluctant to accept the assistance being offered by the Department of Homeland Security, and we believed a bipartisan statement would help persuade them to put aside their concerns and work with the federal government to protect our election infrastructure.

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