Nearly a dozen Republicans say they will oppose counting some electoral votes. It’s unlikely to undo the President-elect’s victory.
The 11 Republican lawmakers said they intend to support an objection to the Electoral College votes, if one is brought, and propose an election commission to conduct an “emergency 10-day audit” of the election returns in the “disputed states.” The group includes Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, 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, and Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
“A fair and credible audit—conducted expeditiously and completed well before January 20—would dramatically improve Americans’ faith in our electoral process and would significantly enhance the legitimacy of whoever becomes our next President. We owe that to the People,” they said in a statement, adding that Congress’ vote on January 6 is the “lone constitutional power remaining to consider and force resolution of the multiple allegations of serious voter fraud.”
Pence appeared to endorse the move on Saturday.
“Vice President (Mike) Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election. The Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on January 6th,” said Marc Short, the chief of staff for the vice president, in a statement to CNN.
There have been no credible allegations of any issues with voting that would have impacted the election, as affirmed by dozens of state and federal courts, governors, state election officials and the departments of Homeland Security and Justice. And not one of the Republican officeholders objecting to Biden’s victory have objected to Trump’s wins, or in some cases their own wins, on the same day.
Hawley on Saturday tweeted that he’s “glad to see more Senators joining the fight.”
In their statement, the 11 GOP senators and senators-elect did not specify the states they intend to reject, but Hawley has signaled that he plans to object to at least one state’s certification, Pennsylvania.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, seemingly dismissed the announcement Saturday from the handful of Republicans, tweeting: “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be President and Vice President of the United States in 18 days.”
The 11 Republican lawmakers appeared to acknowledge Saturday that their efforts may be futile, saying that they’re “not naïve” and “fully expect most if not all Democrats, and perhaps more than a few Republicans, to vote otherwise.”
Mike Gwin, a spokesperson for Biden, completely dismissed the plan from the Republican senators, calling it a “stunt” on Saturday.
“This stunt won’t change the fact that President-elect Biden will be sworn in on January 20th,” Gwin said. “And these baseless claims have already been examined and dismissed by Trump’s own Attorney General, dozens of courts, and election officials from both parties.”
Trump has been pushing for Congress to try to overturn the election result, while his campaign’s attempts to overturn the election through the courts have been repeatedly rejected.
This story has been updated with additional developments Saturday.
CNN’s Arlette Saenz, Jeremy Herb, Phil Mattingly, Alison Main, Nicky Robertson and Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
