This is the latest and probably last piece of a desperate attempt by President Donald Trump and his allies to hold on to power in light of the election of President Joe Biden. In his lawsuit, Gohmert indicates that he expects more than 140 members of the House to participate in Biden’s victory on January 6. He also noted that Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House of Representatives, and Steve Scalise, whip of the GOP, differed from the House’s legal arguments against Gohmert’s lawsuit.
While Gohmert’s long-running effort would throw away the democratic election results, his advocates argue that the nullity of the 130-year-old law that determines how Congress counts votes – and puts all power in Pence’s hands – is the best way to get a deep to heal divided healing. nation.
“Through the constitutional prerequisites and processes for deciding the presidential election and affirming the required legal assistance, this court can set the stage for a calm and permanent resolution of all objections and help pave the way for a reliable and peaceful conclusion of the presidential election. to facilitate matter. election process, ”Gohmert’s lawyers wrote.
Gohmert’s latest submission claims that Pence, through his lawyers, is minimizing his role and even making it trivial by establishing himself as a “glorified envelope opener in the head”.
Although the twelfth amendment to the Constitution requires Pence, as vice president, to preside over the January 6 session, his authority is set forth in the 1887 Election Act. It requires Pence to represent voters alphabetically by state, and it contains a process for House members and senators to challenge disputed voters.
Under the Election Act, the challenge would be solved by separate votes of the House and Senate – and in the case of the 2020 election, the challenges would be effectively doomed. The majority of the Democratic House will definitely oppose them and the now divided Senate contains a bunch of Republicans who have recognized that Biden is the unequivocal winner of the contest.
Should Pence refuse to accept enough electoral votes to place any candidate above the 270-vote threshold, Gohmert states in his lawsuit, the election will be thrown to the House under a process also set out in the Twelfth Amendment, involving state delegates a single voice. This wording would benefit Republicans, who are in the House minority but control more state delegations than Democrats.
Pence on Thursday insisted the court To reject Gohmert’s case against him and argue that he is empowered with the House and Senate, not the Vice President, if they have the power if Gohmert wins. Pence did not state his own view of his power as presiding officer on Jan. 6, nor did he indicate whether he intends to unveil the unofficial electorate that Trump allies claim he threw to compete with the certified leads submitted. in states such as Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.
The House has submitted its own, more complete assignment, which undermines Gohmert’s attempt as an unconstitutional and thinly veiled attempt to dominate the democratic outcome of the 2020 election. The members would never have provided for a process that enabled a sitting vice president – often, as in this case, a real candidate for the election college vote – to have unilateral authority to choose which voters to count, the House argued.
According to Gohmert’s new mandate, Pence is the right defendant in the case, but also says that the congressman can add the members of parliament from the United States or the House or Senate as accused if it would clarify Gohmert’s right to relief.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice, representing Pence, argue that Pence is not a proper or logical defendant for Gohmert’s case, and that the grievance the congressman has is also with the House, the Senate or both.
Gohmert’s effort garnered additional support Friday from Republicans who would run for Trump if he won Michigan. The group submitted a 44-page report arguing that the current rules for counting votes in Congress should be scrapped, leaving Pence alone to decide the outcome.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a nominated Trump sitting in Tyler, Texas, has not instituted a hearing on Gohmert’s case or indicated when the court can deliver judgment. But the judge did draw up a quick timetable for filing the case, including the unusual New Year’s deadline for the congressman’s latest assignment.
Gohmert argued that he needed Kernodle to deliver a verdict by January 4 in order to resolve possible appeals before the January 6 session.