At least 140 Republicans expected to vote against Electoral College count
Trump-supporting Sen. Josh Hawley will set off hours of debate that won't change the election results.
Despite there being virtually no chance of overturning the 2020 presidential election, at least 140 House Republicans plan to vote against the certification of President-elect Joe Biden.
The certification of the Electoral College vote is a standard process, one that usually happens without most Americans even knowing. But this year, outgoing President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud and his string of losing lawsuits has brought it unprecedented, unwarranted attention.
After months of evidence-free accusations of voter fraud, Trump and his Republican allies have launched a last-ditch effort to vote against the certification of the results this Wednesday, Jan. 6, the day after the pivotal Georgia runoff election that will determine U.S. Senate control.
The 140 House Republicans need the support of one senator in order to force two hours of debate in Congress and an official individual vote count. The process will not change the election results, but it will force each member of Congress to go on record.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has said he will be the one to object to counting the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6.
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A Trump supporter, Hawley also sent out an email just hours after his announcement to raise funds for his 2024 presidential run.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse blasted members of his party who plan to participate in the seditious effort.
“The president and his allies are playing with fire. They have been asking — first the courts, then state legislatures, now the Congress — to overturn the results of a presidential election. They have unsuccessfully called on judges and are now calling on federal officeholders to invalidate millions and millions of votes,” Sasse wrote on Facebook.
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“If you make big claims, you had better have the evidence,” he opined. “But the president doesn’t and neither do the institutional arsonist members of Congress who will object to the Electoral College vote.”
The objection effort will only delay the certification of Biden’s election by a few hours. He will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States two weeks later, on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
“The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris represents the beginning of a new national journey,” inaugural committee spokeswoman Pili Tobar said in a statement.
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The Biden-Harris administration recently announced their inauguration events will kick off the day prior with a national observance in remembrance of the over-345,000 people who’ve died of COVID-19.
“In the midst of a pandemic — when so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends, and neighbors — it is important,” said Tobar, “that we honor those who have died, reflect on what has been one of the more challenging periods in the nation’s history, and renew our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and rebuild our nation.”
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