An executive order has been signed by President Donald J. Trump that would permit sanctions against foreigners who so much as attempt to meddle in elections in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reports that White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said, “President Trump is committed to protecting our nation’s elections from foreign interference and has made it clear that his administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation state or other malicious actor.”

This is the latest move by the administration to tackle ongoing concerns that Russia will attempt to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections. The WSJ said a U.S. official described the move as “another tool in the tool kit. This is not a single solution, but it makes a clear statement by the president that this sort of activity will not be tolerated and will be punished.

The WSJ has described administration officials as being “eager to address concerns about Russian election interference,” a critical move at a time when both parties are grappling with alleged Russian interference in elections via social media and website hacks at both the federal and state level.

It is also a move that appears to mollify critics of the President, after accepting the Kremlin’s denial of election interference. There is near-unanimous opinion amongst intelligence agencies that the Russians not only meddled in the election, but did so at Putin’s behest.

The WSJ interviewed individuals on background, who provided a glimpse of some details of the order. Some indicated that, “a variety of intelligence agencies, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, would be responsible for determining whether foreign interference took place.” Others expressed concern that the order would be written with the intent of permitting broad interpretations, and providing a great degree of discretion with respect to the strength of the sanctions.

Another individual interviewed by the WSJ said that the definition of “election interference” might extend to leaking hacked political information or spreading propaganda on social media to affect public opinion, as well as hacking election infrastructure such as websites for candidates.

Trump must engage in a balancing act, in providing both political parties with enough cover by the executive order. Otherwise, legislators may get slammed by public opinion for not passing strict legislation.

One such bill floating around is a bi-partisan effort coming from Senators Chris Van Hollen (D – MD) and Marco Rubio (R -FL), known as “The Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act of 2018”.

The bill sets up reporting requirements by the intelligence agencies to Congress, permits Congress to establish sanctions against Russian financial institutions linked to meddling, as well as energy, defense, and intelligence entities and Russian oligarchs. The bill would prohibit the withdrawal of sanctions unless and until the Russian Government can prove that it has not meddled in U.S. elections “for at least two presidential election cycles” and provides “reliable assurances” it won’t repeats such activities.

National Security Adviser John Bolton said, “We felt it was important to demonstrate the president has taken command of this issue, that it’s something he cares deeply about — that the integrity of our elections and our constitutional process are a high priority to him.”

However, Rubio and Hollen were not satisfied, saying in a joint statement, “Today’s announcement by the administration recognizes the threat, but does not go far enough to address it. The United States can and must do more. Mandatory sanctions on anyone who attacks our electoral systems serve as the best deterrent, which is the central tenet of the bipartisan DETER Act.”