Republicans Score Major Victory Over Biden – After Voting Bill Fails, GOP Pushes Forward Election Overhaul
This week, Joe Biden’s attempts to hijack our democracy went down in flames. He could not get enough Democrats to kill the Senate filibuster, so two radical “voting rights” bills could get passed with a flimsy 51-vote majority. But this major loss is carrying more consequences than just two dead bills.
The 2020 Election exposed major problems with how our country counts electors. Trump and his campaign had legitimate concerns and objections.
But because of the vagueness of the Electoral College Act of 1887, Mike Pence and others didn’t have any recourse to address them. Now, with Biden’s agenda stalled, Republicans are gaining momentum for real reform. From The Hill:
Multiple groups on Capitol Hill are working on reforms to the Electoral Count Act, which lays out how the Electoral College results are counted. And in a rare area of overlap, GOP leaders in both chambers and President Biden are opening the door to changes to the 1887 law…
To force a vote, one member of the House and one member of the Senate have to sign on to an objection to a state’s count. Last year was the third time the Electoral College results have been challenged and voted on since 1887.
Among the changes being floated by senators includes increasing that threshold and clarifying the vice president’s role.
The 2020 Election was rife with confusion and controversy. That went beyond allegations of “irregularities” during the election count.
Americans were confused over how Trump could legally challenge states. Even the Supreme Court could be blamed for the problems, as they refused to hear cases on several occasions.
Then-Vice President Pence, despite receiving a challenge from lawmakers and petitions from state leaders, claimed there were no constitutional means for him to send the electors back to the states. It tainted the legitimacy of the election, which many Americans still believe was cheated.
Republicans, echoing Trump’s sentiments have been seeking means to clarify this process. Democrats, of course, were more concerned with further delegitimatizing our elections by removing major safeguards.
But with the failure of their election bills, Republicans have a chance to make real fixes to this issue.
According to reports, a few Democrats like Joe Manchin are working with Republicans. They are discussing possible changes to the Electoral College Act that bring clarity to the process.
The report makes it seem that even Biden is on board, but that is still unclear. Biden reportedly had talks with Joe Manchin over a month ago, with no updates.
It’s unclear how far a possible bill will get. The Senate might be able to get enough votes to make it through, but the House has become a den of division. With Nancy Pelosi in charge, there is no way Democrats will be willing to support a bipartisan effort.
This might not pass, until after the midterms.
Source: The Hill