At first it was just US Rep Mo Brooks that said he was going to disputing the Electoral College voting when, by Constitutional mandate, Congress reviews it. Now, it is up to 140 Congressmen and I’m betting the number will grow over the next couple of days.
Related: President Trump Talks About Stopping the Theft of the Presidential Election
A couple of days ago, US Senator Josh Hawley became the first US Senator to declare the same – he has been rudely admonished by the Democrats (and more than a few Republicans as well).
And in comes the cavalry – 11 more Senators have announced that they will be standing along side him (reformatted, emphasis mine):
11 More GOP Senators to Object to Electoral College Votes
A group of 11 senators on Saturday announced they’re going to challenge electoral votes during the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress. [They wrote]:
America is a Republic whose leaders are chosen in democratic elections. Those elections, in turn, must comply with the Constitution and with federal and state law. When the voters fairly decide an election, pursuant to the rule of law, the losing candidate should acknowledge and respect the legitimacy of that election. And, if the voters choose to elect a new office-holder, our Nation should have a peaceful transfer of power. The election of 2020, like the election of 2016, was hard fought and, in many swing states, narrowly decided. The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations, and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.”
That’s the reasoning – and they have a proposed remedy:
The senators said Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of election returns in disputed states. Once completed, the states would evaluate the commission’s findings and convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.
“Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,” the group said.
Sitting senators signing onto this include “Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.).”
And four newly elected Senators as well: “Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) also plan on joining. They’ll be sworn in on Sunday, several days before the joint session.”
Certainly, they have no majority – certainly not in the House where Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats will still hold sway (unless of course, Pelosi is replaced and then all bets are off). Even 11 Republican Senators are barely 20% of the new Senate (Reps and Senators will be sworn in tomorrow, Jan 3 per standard practice although it could be put off until Monday as tomorrow is a Sunday but no law has been passed to change it).
So the questions would be:
- Will fireworks fly in Congress on Jan 6? Yep.
- Will said fireworks be New Year’s level? Commercial event? A rich backyard one? Or a kid with a sparkler on a stoop?
- Will the march on DC, called by Trump, have any effect on others in Congress?
- Will those Reps and Senators’ announcements “persuade” others in Congress to join them?
- Will President Trump’s showing a willingness to fight mean anything beyond the above Reps and Senators?
Trump’s willingness to fight instead of showing the regular supine behavior of Republicans when confronted by Democrat attacks may be rubbing off a bit – I certainly hope so. Certainly the Federal Government’s Ambassador to New Hampshire Jeanne Shahen must be having quote a foul mouthed reaction with the words “sedition” and “treason” interspersed in that vocal stream with this news.
The willingness to fight. Too many Republicans in the past have taken the “gentleman’s path” and gone “oh well – we won’t fight [it] because gentlemen don’t fight”. My old “Marquess of Queensberry vs MMA” lament applies – perhaps some Rs are starting to no longer accept the decades old status quo.
It’s nice to see the try – even if it fails.
(H/T: The Epoch Times)
