Washington – The unprecedented Republican effort to overturn the presidential election has been condemned by an outpouring of current and former Republican Party officials who warned of the effort to sow doubts about Joe Biden’s victory and keep President Trump at bay. the charge that is undermining the faith of Americans in democracy. Trump has garnered the support of a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House Republicans to challenge the Electoral College vote when Congress meets this week in a joint session to confirm President-elect Biden’s victory by 306 -232.
With the inauguration of Mr. Biden on January 20, Trump intensifies efforts to prevent the traditional transfer of power, starting the party.
Despite Trump’s allegations of election fraud, state officials have insisted that the election went smoothly and there was no evidence of fraud or other issues that would change the outcome. States have certified their results as fair and valid. Of the more than 50 demands that the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, almost all have been dismissed or withdrawn. He has also lost twice to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a call released Sunday, Mr. Trump can be heard pressuring Georgia officials to “find” more votes.
But some senior lawmakers, including prominent Republicans, are backtracking.
Several senators, Paul Ryan, and Liz Cheney refuse
“The 2020 election is over,” a statement from a bipartisan group of 10 senators, including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah, said Sunday.
Senators wrote that new attempts to question the election are “contrary to the clearly expressed will of the American people and only serve to undermine Americans’ confidence in the election results already determined.”
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said, “The scheme by members of Congress to reject presidential election certification mocks our system and who we are as Americans.”
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said in a statement that “Mr. Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate” and that efforts to sow doubts about the election strike at the founding of our republic.
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third Republican in the House, warned in a note to her colleagues that objections to the results of the Electoral College “set an exceptionally dangerous precedent.”
One of the most outspoken Conservatives in Congress, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton has said he will not oppose the January 6 certified vote count. “I am grateful for what the president has done over the last four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his re-election. But opposing certified election votes will not give him a second term, he will only encourage Democrats who they want to further erode our system of constitutional government. ”
Cotton said he is in favor of continuing to investigate any electoral issues, apart from counting the results of the Electoral College’s certificates.
Former Pentagon chiefs are pronounced
Other prominent former officials also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. In a brief publication in the Washington Post, the ten living ex-secretaries of defense — half of whom had served as Republican presidents — called on Pentagon officials to make the transition to the new administration “completely, cooperative and transparent ”. They also claimed that efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving electoral disputes “would lead us to dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional territory.”
Citing election results, legal challenges, state certifications and voting by the Electoral College, the former defense secretaries said that “time has passed to question the results; the time for the formal counting of the votes of the electoral college, as established by the Constitution and the statutes, it has arrived. “
The unusual challenge of the presidential election, on a scale not seen since the aftermath of the civil war, clouded the opening of the new Congress and its first days will be consumed. The House and Senate will meet Wednesday in a joint session to accept the Electoral College vote, a commonly-used process that is now expected to be a protracted struggle.
Trump refuses to give in and pressure is mounting on Vice President Pence to secure victory while presiding over what is usually a ceremonial role during the Congress session. Trump is whipping crowds for a rally in Washington on Wednesday.
The president tweeted Sunday against election leaders and Republicans who were not on his side.
Mr Biden’s transition spokesman Mike Gwin dismissed the senators’ effort as a “trick” that will not change the fact that Biden will be sworn in on January 20th.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues that while there is “no doubt” about Mr Biden’s victory, his job now “is to convince more Americans to trust our democratic system “.
The effort in the Senate was being led by Mr. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Hawley defended his actions in a lengthy email to colleagues, explaining that his Missouri components have been “strong and clear” with his belief that Mr. Biden’s defeat against Trump was unfair.
“It is my responsibility as a senator to raise your concerns,” Hawley wrote Saturday afternoon.
Hawley plans to oppose Pennsylvania’s state accounting. But state Republican Sen. Pat Toomey criticized the attack on Pennsylvania’s electoral system and said the results that named Mr. Biden as the winner are valid.
Cruz’s coalition of 11 Republican senators vows to reject the Electoral College’s forecasts unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of election results. They are focusing on states where Trump has raised unfounded allegations of election fraud. Congress is unlikely to accept his demand.
The group formed with Cruz, which presented no new evidence of electoral problems, includes Mr. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Mike Braun of Indiana. The group’s new senators are Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
The convening of the joint session to count the votes of the Electoral College has previously faced objections. In 2017, several House Democrats challenged Trump’s victory, but Biden, who at the time held the presidency, quickly fired them to claim Trump’s victory. Rarely have protests approached this level of intensity.
Definite time for GOP
The timing is final for the Republican party in a post-Trump era. Both Hawley and Cruz are potential candidates for the 2024 presidency, consolidating their alignment with Trump’s fan base. Others try to forge a different path for the Republican Party.
Pence will be closely monitored while presiding over what is expected to be a protracted confrontation, depending on how many challenges are posed.
The vice president “celebrates the effort of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections,” Pence chief of staff Marc Short said Saturday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned Republicans of such challenges, but said little when asked at the Capitol when the Senate opened Sunday.
“We’ll take care of all of that on Wednesday,” he said.
But Republicans simply said they don’t plan to join the effort that will fail.
Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said Sunday that her colleagues will have the opportunity to present their case, but they must present evidence and facts. “They have a high bar to clear,” he said.
Congress has sought to interfere in state-run electoral systems, a long-standing protocol. States choose their own electoral officials and draft their electoral laws. During the coronavirus pandemic. many states adapted by allowing email voting to alleviate the health risks of voting in person. These and other changes are now being challenged by Trump and his allies.
Trump, the first president to lose a re-election candidacy in nearly 30 years, has attributed his defeat to widespread election fraud, despite the consensus of nonpartisan election officials and even Mr. Trump’s attorney general who did not there was none.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the latest challenge from Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and a group of Arizona voters, who filed a lawsuit to try to force Pence to come out of the mere ceremony and shape the result of the vote. The appellate court sided with the federal judge, appointed by Trump, who dismissed the lawsuit.