WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has launched a sharp rebuke to the Republican Party’s attempts to oppose the Electoral College count of the presidential election on January 6, warning colleagues against a ploy “that could damage the nation ‘s civic traditions.
Sasse, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, posted a lengthy explanation of his views on social media on Thursday, including a paragraph by paragraph on dismantling allegations of election fraud in key states won by President-elect Joe Biden. Sasse said he felt compelled to tell “the truth” as constituents and those who supported President Donald Trump wanted to know where he stood on the issue.
“I will not participate in a project to cancel the elections,” Sasse wrote. He said he wanted to explain “why I have been urging my colleagues to reject this dangerous ploy as well.”
Trump, the first president to lose a re-election candidacy in nearly 30 years, has attributed his defeat to widespread electoral fraud, although nonpartisan election officials said there was none. He has pushed Republican senators to pursue their unfounded charges even though this month the Electoral College consolidated Biden’s 306-232 victory and multiple legal efforts to challenge the results have failed.
Sasse’s missive offers the Republican Party a different path for the post-Trump era, in contrast to other Republicans, most notably Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. – who lead the challenge during next week’s joint session of Congress.
Hawley became the first Republican senator this week to announce that he will raise objections when Congress meets to affirm Biden’s victory in the election, forcing votes in the House and Senate that will likely delay, but not alter, the final certification of Biden’s victory.
Other Republican senators are expected to join Hawley, wary of giving him the spotlight, as they also try to emerge as leaders in a post-Trump era.
Some Democratic-majority House Republicans have already said they will oppose on Trump’s behalf during the Jan. 6 election vote count and had only needed one senator to accompany them to force votes in both houses.
Sasse pointed to the “swampy” nature of Trump’s fundraising for the election challenge as he set out his reasons for believing Biden’s election victory to be valid.
“Since election day, the president and his allied organizations have raised more than half a billion dollars (supporters) of supporters who have been made to believe they contribute to a fierce legal defense,” Sasse wrote. “But in reality, they usually give the president and his allies a blank check that can go to their super-PACs, their next plane trip, their next campaign or project. This is not serious governing. It’s a swampy policy. “
He posed the electoral challenges facing Trump’s legal team in terms of Nebraska.
Sasse wrote that he could not “simply allege that the college football playoff selection committee is” in sight “because they did not send the Cornhuskers to the Rose Bowl, and then, after failing to show evidence that someone from the selection The committee is corrupt: it argues that we need to investigate because of these ubiquitous “allegations” of corruption. “
With 160 million votes across the country, there will be some cases of fraud, he said, but nothing of the magnitude to invalidate the election.
“We have good reason to think that this year’s elections were fair, safe and in accordance with the law,” Sasse wrote. “It simply came to our notice then. But there is no evidence to distrust our election altogether or to conclude that the results do not reflect the ballots our fellow citizens actually cast. “
Without giving details or evidence, Hawley said Wednesday he would oppose because “some states, including Pennsylvania in particular,” did not follow their own election laws. Some states made changes to their electoral procedures, such as extending absentee voting, to accommodate voters during the coronavirus pandemic, the worst public health emergency in the United States in a century. Claims against Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania have failed.
“At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of election fraud and take steps to ensure the integrity of our election,” Hawley said in a statement. He also criticized the way Facebook and Twitter handled election-related content, and characterized it as an effort to help Biden.
Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for Biden’s transition team, dismissed Hawley’s move as “nonsense” that will have no influence on Biden’s sworn oath on Jan. 20.
“The American people spoke out strongly in this election and 81 million people have voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Psaki said in a call to reporters.
Trump cut his vacation in Florida to return to Washington on Thursday, a day earlier than expected, for reasons the White House did not explain.
When Congress is convened to certify the results of the Electoral College, any legislator may oppose the votes of a state for any reason. But the objection is not collected unless it is written and signed by both a member of the House and a member of the Senate.
When there is such a request, the joint session is suspended and the House and Senate participate in separate sessions to consider it. For the objection to be upheld, both chambers must accept it by simple majority. If they do not agree, the original electoral votes are counted.
As Senate President, Vice President Mike Pence will chair the Jan. 6 session and declare the winner.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Had asked his group not to engage in a futile search to nullify the results.
Several election officials and Republican supporters have confirmed that there was no fraud in the November contest that would alter the election results. This includes former Attorney General William Barr, who said he saw no reason to appoint a special lawyer to examine the president’s claims about the 2020 election. He resigned last week.
Trump and his allies have filed about 50 demands to challenge election results and almost all have been dismissed or withdrawn. He has also lost twice to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The House Republican group has said it plans to challenge election results in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada. They are all states that Biden carried.
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Aamer Madhani, a writer for the Associated Press in Chicago, contributed to this report.