Congress Moves Forward In Clarifying Electoral Count Act

While all sane people agree that vice presidents do NOT have the power to change the results of a presidential election during the counting of electoral votes by Congress, both chambers of Congress are currently on track to clarify any “vagueness” there might be in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Much of the drama that surrounded the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, came from misinformation derived from vague language about the role of the vice president during the counting of the electoral votes. Donald Trump publicly urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to sweep aside the votes from swing states after having been told by fringe law folks that Pence had such power.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joined 22 Republicans and Democrats in backing legislation to prevent future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress. https://t.co/qSNkJsR3ia

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 27, 2022

Jump to today: the House has already passed legislation that would prevent presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress. The bill passed on a 229-203 vote last week, with nine Republicans joining Democrats.

229-203, House passes its version of bill to overhaul the Electoral Count Act. Among the Rs who voted for it: Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Peter Meijer, Tom Rice, Jaime Herrera Beutler, John Katko, Fred Upton, Chris Jacobs — a mix of retiring members and those who lost primaries

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 21, 2022

Today, the Senate Rules Committee voted 14-1 to favorably report the Electoral Count Act Reform bill to the full Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have both signaled their support for the legislation, all but ensuring its passage. Ever the performative stick-in-the-mud, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was the only no vote in the committee today. In January 2021, Cruz enjoyed taking part in the chaos of the Electoral Count confusion.

Ted Cruz just became the only republican on the Rules committee to vote against the Electoral Count Act, which puts guard rails in place to prevent future coup attempts.

Cruz led the charge in the Senate to overturn the last election for Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/IY7ZZPavow — Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) September 27, 2022

By the way, there is a bit of logic when it comes to some Republicans supporting such legislation: Vice President Kamala Harris will be presiding over the counting of the electoral votes in the 2024 election. So, there’s that…

“We don’t wanna have Kamala Harris choosing the next president,” says @MittRomney in GOP-friendly push to reform the Electoral Count Act.

— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 28, 2022