Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has rebuffed calls that he form a select committee to investigate Russian meddling in the US election. Speaking on Kentucky Educational Television Monday night, McConnell said the cyberattacks against US political parties, which US intelligence agencies have said were directed by the Russian government, constituted “a serious issue, but it doesn’t require a select committee.” A bipartisan group of four senators, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), sent a letter to McConnell Sunday requesting that he establish a special committee to investigate charges that the Russian government sought to influence the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election in favor of President-elect Donald Trump. “There’s no question that the Russians were messing around in our election,” McConnell said. “It is a matter of genuine concern and it needs to be investigated.” But in contrast to some of his colleagues, who believe the matter of cyber defense is complex enough to require investigation by a devoted committee made up of members from a variety of standing committees, McConnell said any investigation could be handled in “regular order” by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is “fully capable of handling this.”
Some lawmakers in the Senate are advocating for a more bipartisan approach to paying for the Pentagon’s $185 billion Golden Dome missile defense project, arguing that the effort’s goal of bolstering homeland defenses has support across ideological lines but the process for funding it has been politically charged—leaving the program’s…