Senate

Schumer: Democrats eyeing ways to disband Trump’s election commission

by Jordain Carney - 09/12/17 11:08 AM ET

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that Democrats are mulling how to disband President Trump’s voter fraud commission.

“[The commission is] a nasty solution in search of a problem,” Schumer said. “The election integrity commission ought to be disbanded. We will be looking for ways to do that legislatively. The real threat of election integrity comes not from voter fraud but from foreign meddling and cyberattacks.”

Trump created the commission by executive order in May to investigate his claims, presented without evidence, of widespread voter fraud in last year’s presidential election. But it’s been beset by lawsuits and controversy, including a widely rejected request that states send in voter roll data. It is meeting Tuesday in New Hampshire.

{mosads}Schumer pledged over the August recess that Democrats would try to link disbanding the commission to a must-pass bill.

The Senate is currently discussing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and faces deadlines on the Children’s Health Insurance Program, reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and an end-of-the-year funding deadline.

But Democrats, who only hold 48 seats, would need help from Republicans to get language breaking up the commission included in a bill.

Democrats and some Republicans have been critical of the commission for months. Dozens of states, including many controlled by Republicans, have said they either wouldn’t turn over information or would aonly provide limited data.

Schumer added on Tuesday that the commission appears to be focused on making it harder to vote, rather than rooting out potential fraud, by using “misleading claims and controversial tactics.”

“I think this commission, what it’s trying to do, flies in the face of what this country is all about,” he said.

Tags Chuck Schumer