Congress has allocated about $425 million in new funding for election security ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a Democratic congressional source confirmed to NPR on Monday, Miles Parks writes in npr:

The funding is part of a spending package expected to be passed by the end of the week.

It also represents a compromise. Democrats in the House had originally hoped for $600 million. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated earlier this year he would support $250 million.

McConnell’s views stand in tension with those of the democrats who say the allocated $450 million is still not enough to deal with election security concerns.

Alexa Corse reported in the World Street Journal that:

The new funding represents a rare moment of agreement between top Democrats and Republicans concerning how to secure U.S. elections in the run-up to the 2020 contests, which U.S. intelligence officials repeatedly have said hostile powers remain intent on disrupting.

But the issue is likely to continue to face partisan headwinds. Key Democrats continued to call for more funding and stricter standards.

“This is a welcome development after months of pressure, but this money is no substitute for a permanent funding mechanism for securing and maintaining elections systems,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He also called for comprehensive election-security legislation that would mandate stronger standards, which he said top Republicans had blocked.