Vice President Pence on Thursday asked a federal judge to reject a proposal by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other Republicans to expand Pence’s powers in a way that would allow him to effectively overturn the election victory. President-elect Joe Biden.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week, is intended to expand Pence’s role at an upcoming Jan. 6 congressional meeting to count state election votes and end Biden’s victory over President Trump.
But in a writ Thursday to Texas-based U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, appointed by Trump, Pence said he was not a proper defendant in the lawsuit.
“A lawsuit to establish that the vice president has discretion over the count, filed against the vice president, is a legal contradiction,” a Justice Department attorney representing Pence wrote in the filing.
Typically, the role of the vice president in the presidency of the January 6 meeting is basically ceremonial and is governed by a federal law of 1887 known as the Electoral Count Act.
But the Republican lawsuit seeks to invalidate the law as an unconstitutional restriction on the vice president’s authority to choose between competing victory claims when statewide election results are contested.
Republicans from several key battlefield states have disputed Biden’s victory and offered alternative “slates” of pro-Trump voters to be counted on Jan. 6, but experts say those efforts carry no legal weight.
The lawsuit against the vice president comes when Pence is under increasing pressure from supporters of the president, and even the president himself, to use his legal role to challenge normal electoral protocols.
The White House provided no comment when contacted by The Hill.
Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Kelli Ward, who presides over the Arizona Republican Party and previously served as an Arizona state senator. Ward has reiterated incompatible claims similar to Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was tainted by widespread fraud.
Ward was also involved in a previous unsuccessful lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory in Arizona.
Election law expert Edward Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University, said Pence’s position amounted to “a direct response from the lawyer” to the lawsuit.
“The main argument is that the plaintiffs should have sued the Senate and the House of Representatives, not the Vice President, but it also suggests reasons, such as the plaintiffs’ lack of position, that a lawsuit against both houses of Congress also it would fail procedurally, ”Foley said.
In separate developments of the case Thursday, a Democratic-led House attorney indicated that Democratic lawmakers would file a friendly letter to the lawsuit.
In addition, a voter in Biden, Colorado, sought permission from the judge to join the lawsuit as a defendant, alleging concerns that Pence and the Justice Department would not adequately represent the interests of Biden voters.
Updated at 7:09 p.m.