evidence: But McConnell’s blockade faces a new challenge as the House turns to a series of bills meant to fight foreign interference in the 2020 election. Those measures, aimed at defending fundamental American institutions from foreign subversion, may be tougher for the Kentucky Republican to portray as partisan overreach than the bills the House has passed so far. And that could make them an irresistible force that strains his overall strategy of preventing action on any House legislation. [...] Election security, though, could be an issue that causes at least some GOP senators to question McConnell’s blockade. Sarbanes, who chaired the House Democrats’ Democracy Reform Task Force, says the party plans to pass by August "a suite" of bills to safeguard the 2020 election against foreign interference. [...] But all signals from McConnell suggest he’s unlikely to accept almost any new federal initiatives on election security. Last week, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia to force a vote on a "duty to report" bill, which many Republicans consider an effort to embarrass President Donald Trump. McConnell shrugged off Trump’s comments, which drew widespread condemnation in both parties, that "you might want to listen" to a foreign government offering dirt on a 2020 opponent. And Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the GOP leadership, has publicly declared that McConnell is unlikely to allow any election security bill to reach the floor, whatever the House does next.