WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s extraordinary attempt to overthrow the presidential election goes before Congress as lawmakers meet for a joint sitting to confirm the Electoral College. vote won by Joe Biden.
The usual routine process on Wednesday will be anything but a political confrontation since the aftermath of the civil war, while Trump is making a desperate attempt to stay in office. The President’s Republican allies in the House and Senate intend to object to the election results, which responds to the plea of supporters to “fight for Trump” while holding a rally outside the White House. It tears the party apart.
The long-running effort will be almost unsuccessful, defeated by two-fold majority in Congress willing to accept the results. Biden, which won Electoral College 306-232, will be inaugurated on January 20th.
“The most important part is that democracy will eventually prevail here,” Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, among those in charge of the proceedings, said in an interview.
The joint session of Congress, by law, will convene at 13:00 EST among a vigilant, troubled nation – months after the November 3 election, two weeks before the traditional peaceful transfer of power and against the backdrop. of a rising COVID -19 pandemic.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who warned his party against this challenge, is expected to make early remarks. House President Nancy Pelosi, who would institute the procedure on the side of the Capitol, calls it a day of ‘enormous historical significance’. It is about ‘guaranteeing confidence in our democratic system’, she said in a letter to colleagues.
But this is Vice President Mike Pence who will be closely watched as he presides over the session.
Despite Trump’s repeated allegations of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general said there are no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All states confirmed their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials.
Pence played a major ceremonial role, opening the sealed envelopes of the states after being carried in mahogany boxes used for the occasion and reading the results. But he is under increasing pressure from Trump to show it in the president’s favor, although he has no power to influence the outcome.
While other vice presidents, including Al Gore and Richard Nixon, have also claimed their own defeats, Pence supports Republican lawmakers raising challenges to the 2020 outcome.
“I hope our great vice president gets through to us,” Trump said during a rally in Georgia this week. “He’s a wonderful guy. If he does not get through, of course I will not like him so much. ”
This is not the first time that legislators have disputed the outcome. Democrats did in 2017 and 2005. But the intensity of Trump’s challenge is like nothing in modern times, and an outpouring of current and elected GOP officials warns that the showdown is sowing distrust in government and weakening Americans’ faith in democracy.
“There is no constitutional viable means for Congress to prevent an election,” Sen. Tim Scott, RS.C., announced that he was refusing to participate in the attempt on the eve of the session.
Still, more than a dozen Republican senators led by Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, along with as many as 100 Republics of the House, are pushing to raise objections to the state results of Biden’s victory.
In terms of the rules of the joint sitting, any objection to the election of a state must be submitted in writing by at least one member of the House and one of the Senate to be considered. Each objection will be debated for two hours in the House and Senate, ensuring a long day.
House Republican lawmakers are signing objections to the election in six states – Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Arizona is likely to be the first to be disputed as the state languages are announced in alphabetical order, and Cruz said he will work with Republicans of the House against the state.
Hawley said he would object to the Pennsylvania election results, ensuring almost a second two-hour debate, despite opposition from Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who said Biden’s victory was accurate.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler could challenge the results in her state of Georgia. But it is unclear whether any of the other senators will object to any other state, as lawmakers are still devising a strategy.
Democrats have the majority in the House and the Republican Senate is divided on the issue. Dual majorities in both chambers are expected to reject the objections well.
The Cruz-led group has vowed to object unless Congress agrees to set up a commission to investigate the election, but that seems unlikely.
Those with Cruz are Sens Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Trump has promised to fight like hell to stay in office. He said during a rally in Georgia, voters voting for Biden “will not take the White House!”
Many of the Republicans who dispute the result have said they are trying to give home voters who do not trust the result of the election and want to see lawmakers fight for Trump.
Hawley defended his role by saying his voters were “loud and clear” about their distrust in the election. “It is my responsibility as a senator to raise their concerns,” he wrote to colleagues.
As criticism began to increase, Cruz insisted that his goal was “not to set aside the election,” but to investigate allegations of voting problems. He provided no new evidence.
Both Hawley and Cruz are potential 2024 presidential candidates and are fighting for Trump’s supporter base.
Lawmakers are urging Capitol officials to arrive early, due to security measures with protesters in Washington. Visitors, who usually fill the galleries to see attractions, will not be allowed under COVID-19 restrictions.
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Associated Press authors Kevin Freking in Dalton, Ga., And Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.