Josh Hawley Will Challenge Electoral College Results In Senate To Become First GOP Senator To Back House Effort
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) just stunned Washington and said today that he will object during Congress’s counting of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6.
Wow, this is huge and makes Hawley the first GOP senator to back the effort by House conservatives.
“I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” Hawley said in a statement.
“And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden. At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act,” Hawley said.
For a challenge to be successful both houses of Congress have to approve it and with the Dems in control of the house these challenges won’t stand much of a chance.
From The Hill:
Hawley’s decision comes as a group of House conservatives, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), have pledged to make a long-shot bid to overturn the results of the election on Jan. 6 by objecting to the Electoral College results.
In order to force a debate and a vote on their objection to a state’s results they need a senator to also object—something they didn’t have before Hawley’s announcement on Wednesday.
It will be the third time Congress has had to debate an objection since 1887, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The vote is not expected to win majority support in either chamber given opposition from Democrats and some Republicans.
GOP leaders in the Senate had hoped to avoid it, and the vote and debate is likely to reveal deep divisions in the conference over the allegations from Trump of voter fraud — which have repeatedly been rejected by courts.
Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard. I will object on January 6 on their behalf pic.twitter.com/kTaaPPJGHE
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 30, 2020
SENATOR JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO) JOINS 30+ CONGRESSMEN IN OBJECTING to electoral college vote submissions from states with such flawed election systems as to render their election results untrustworthy.
— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) December 30, 2020
BAM! The fight for America’s Republic IS ON!
WATCH JANUARY 6, STARTING 1PM ET. pic.twitter.com/vjcUW9ec6U