I was listening to Smerconish on Sirius XM yesterday morning and he had a reading of the Electoral Count Act of 1887:
In short it says the following:
What that means is the following. If Representative Jane Doe objects to Pence accepting a state's electoral votes and it is seconded by a Senator, the above highlighted stipulation takes place.
The conversation on Smerconish's radio show was first, who would be the Republican Senator to second the objection of a house member. Conservative ass-hat Mo Brooks from Alabama (pictured below)
Said he would challenge it. For a challenge to be heard, it would require a Senator to join in the objection.
The interesting thing is this. Mitch McConnell had a conference call with his caucus the day before yesterday urging them to not join in on the objection.
Because he can see how it will play out. It would require both houses to approve the objection and throw out that state's electors. The House, of course, won't do it so any objection would not carry the day. Biden will get 306 electoral votes and win the Presidency...the Congress will make it official on January 6. But...here is the fun part. If a Senator does join in on Mo Better Brook's objection, the Senate will have to debate and vote on the objection. Meaning that GOP senators will have to either vote to overturn a state's electors or they would have to side with the Democrats and not vote to overturn the electoral votes. On one hand, voting to overturn the will of the people in a state is pretty shitty stuff for a US Senator to do. But voting against a Republican President is probably not a good idea either...especially given Trump's supporters propensity for payback and generally hateful behavior. So McConnell doesn't want any of his guys to go on record as being anti-Trump 23 months before they are up for re-election and 15 months before the GOP primaries. Hence the conference call urging his caucus to not die on this hill because the House will never ever vote to throw out electors. Which is great for Biden--that McConnell is doing this.
But...what about the Democratic Party Senators. One could side with Mo Better Brooks and force the GOP to go on the record as being anti-democracy OR anti-Trump. I doubt anyone in the DNC would do this...it would be such a stone cold move to absolutely rub McConnell's nose in it. But it would be hilarious to see the debate take place in the Senate to where a vote is held and GOP senators would have to pick one or the other.
My guess is that most would vote "present" and show just how spineless they really are.
In short it says the following:
Explaining how Congress settles electoral college disputes | Constitution Center
The next public step in the 2020 presidential election will happen on January 6, 2021, when Congress meets to validate the election. If there are objections at that meeting, a formerly obscure law will be consulted to settle disputes about electors.
constitutioncenter.org
What that means is the following. If Representative Jane Doe objects to Pence accepting a state's electoral votes and it is seconded by a Senator, the above highlighted stipulation takes place.
The conversation on Smerconish's radio show was first, who would be the Republican Senator to second the objection of a house member. Conservative ass-hat Mo Brooks from Alabama (pictured below)
Said he would challenge it. For a challenge to be heard, it would require a Senator to join in the objection.
The interesting thing is this. Mitch McConnell had a conference call with his caucus the day before yesterday urging them to not join in on the objection.
Because he can see how it will play out. It would require both houses to approve the objection and throw out that state's electors. The House, of course, won't do it so any objection would not carry the day. Biden will get 306 electoral votes and win the Presidency...the Congress will make it official on January 6. But...here is the fun part. If a Senator does join in on Mo Better Brook's objection, the Senate will have to debate and vote on the objection. Meaning that GOP senators will have to either vote to overturn a state's electors or they would have to side with the Democrats and not vote to overturn the electoral votes. On one hand, voting to overturn the will of the people in a state is pretty shitty stuff for a US Senator to do. But voting against a Republican President is probably not a good idea either...especially given Trump's supporters propensity for payback and generally hateful behavior. So McConnell doesn't want any of his guys to go on record as being anti-Trump 23 months before they are up for re-election and 15 months before the GOP primaries. Hence the conference call urging his caucus to not die on this hill because the House will never ever vote to throw out electors. Which is great for Biden--that McConnell is doing this.
But...what about the Democratic Party Senators. One could side with Mo Better Brooks and force the GOP to go on the record as being anti-democracy OR anti-Trump. I doubt anyone in the DNC would do this...it would be such a stone cold move to absolutely rub McConnell's nose in it. But it would be hilarious to see the debate take place in the Senate to where a vote is held and GOP senators would have to pick one or the other.
My guess is that most would vote "present" and show just how spineless they really are.
