Harris says White House will lean on previous executive order on election laws after bills failed in Senate

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Kamala Harris grilled in contentious 'Today' interview addressing Russia, legitimacy of midterm elections

Vice President Kamala Harris faced a tough line of questioning Thursday during a contentious interview on NBC's "Today" addressing potential Russian aggression toward Ukraine, as well as President Biden's suggestion the results of the 2022 midterm elections could be "illegitimate."

Vice President Harris said on Thursday that the White House will be leaning on the previous voting law executive orders after the Democrats’ election overhaul bills failed in the Senate.

Harris said that the Biden administration was "not giving up" on passing their electoral overhaul agenda, despite a major loss in the Senate Wednesday evening that would have advanced two large voting bills.

"What we will do is keep fighting to get the legislation passed because that is critical," Harris said during an interview with CBS Mornings on Thursday. "So we are not giving up on that."

KAMALA HARRIS GRILLED IN CONTENTIOUS ‘TODAY’ INTERVIEW ADDRESSING RUSSIA, LEGITIMACY OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Vice President Kamala Harris was crushed on Thursday after she gave a bizarre non-answer when asked if it’s time for the Biden administration to change its COVID strategy.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

"And then it is a matter of continuing to do the work of executive orders, doing the work through the Department of Justice which has been litigating these cases in the various states, because we believe they are a violation of the spirit of the Constitution of the United States," Harris said, also saying they are planning to elevate the conversation on the issue.

A White House official told Fox News Digital that her comments regarding executive orders refer to continuing the implementation of the March 2021 executive order, not any new planned actions.

According to the White House, Biden's March executive order updated Vote.gov while instructing federal agencies to expand access to voter registration, provided voting access and education to prisoners in federal custody, examined barriers to citizens with disabilities voting and improved ballot tracking for overseas voters, including active-duty military.

On Wednesday night, the Democrats attempted to jam through their voting overhaul legislation in the Senate by changing the filibuster rule through the "nuclear option," but were stopped by Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona, who broke with their party and voted with the GOP.

Biden speaks at the COP26 climate summit. 

The failed attempt came the same evening as a rare press conference by President Biden, during which he said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine may be imminent and also suggested that the results of the 2022 elections may not be legitimate.

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Harris faced a tough line of questioning Thursday during a separate, contentious interview on NBC's "Today" addressing Biden's comments on Russian aggression toward Ukraine, as well as the president's suggestion the results of the 2022 midterm elections could be "illegitimate."

The Biden administration appears to be conducting clean-up after the pressr, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki also appearing on "America’s Newsroom" for her first interview with the network since the president took office a year ago where she faced critical questions about the press conference.

Fox News’ Yael Halon, Evie Fordham and Brandon Gillepsie contributed reporting.