President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE is the only figure in the U.S. government not paying attention to the threat posed by Russia in this year's midterm elections, according to Sen. James Lankford James Paul LankfordMcConnell works to lock down GOP votes for coronavirus bill Charities scramble to plug revenue holes during pandemic Warren calls for Postal Service board members to fire DeJoy or resign MORE (R-Okla.).

The Intelligence Committee member made the remarks in a joint interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar Amy Klobuchar3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE (D-Minn.) to CNN in which the two detailed how the rest of the government is taking actions to try to protect the elections — despite what Lankford said were inconsistent messages in Trump tweets.

"The intelligence community has been very active on this, the Department of Homeland Security has been active on this," he told CNN. "While the president has been inconsistent in his tweets, and some of the messaging that he's put on it, he's the only one in the government that hasn't been paying attention to this."

ADVERTISEMENT

Lankford said Trump administration has made it clear that it understands the threat posed by Russia, regardless of the president's tweets.

"Director [of National Intelligence](Dan) Coats made it clear that Russia has been emboldened and they're getting bolder," Klobuchar added.

Lankford and Klobuchar have offered legislation aimed at shoring up the nation's election system. The Secure Elections Act, which is cosponsored by 10 senators in addition to Lankford and Klobuchar, is intended to strengthen state and federal reactions to cybersecurity and other threats posed in the elections.

Patrick Leahy The Senate rejected an effort on Wednesday by Democrats to provide states with $250 million in grants to secure their election systems. Senators voted 50-47 against adding an amendment from Sen.(D-Vt.) that would have provided the funding. Sixty votes were needed to include the proposal in the appropriations legislation under Senate rules.