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WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes it is dangerous for his party to challenge the electoral triumph of President-elect Joe Biden. But some Republicans go for it anyway, and this time McConnell is faced with a dynamic that he cannot totally control.
Despite opposition from the Kentucky Republican, 13 GOP senators said they would join dozens of their House colleagues on Wednesday in opposing when Congress formally confirms Biden’s electoral college victory.. The effort, which is sure to fail, was spurred on by deeply defeated President Donald Trump as an unwarranted and ultimate effort to overturn election results, which all 50 states have already certified.
McConnell has warned his colleagues that the showdown is risky because it will force GOP senators, including those up for potentially tough re-election in 2022, to decide whether to support or oppose the happy-to-tweet Trump in a fight that ‘they are sure to lose. In mid-December, McConnell privately warned them that pressing the issue would force a “terrible vote,” although he publicly congratulated Democrat Biden on his victory, ignoring Trump’s refusal to concede.
To make his point clear, GOP aides say McConnell plans to be the first speaker when the initial objection is raised during Wednesday’s joint session of Congress and Senators return to their chambers for a debate and a two hour vote. McConnell also made it clear that the Senate will meet overnight if necessary to handle any objections, aides said.
McConnell has actively avoided confrontation with Trump whenever possible, but he’s clearly fed up with Trump’s chaos. His remarks on Wednesday will leave no doubt how seriously he views the vote, which is at the heart of the orderly transfer of power in American democracy.
But McConnell can’t prevent objections, which are permitted by the Constitution and federal law if a representative and a senator challenge a state’s electoral votes. He also faces overwhelming political dynamics, including the presidential ambitions expected of some senators for 2024, the desire of others to protect themselves from the 2022 primaries brought on by an offended Trump, and the temptation to use the struggle to raise money. fund and build support from strong Trump supporters.
“You have people who would love to run for president who are acting in the best interests of being candidates,” said David Winston, a political adviser to the GOP leaders in Congress.
Trump’s election fraud allegations, which he began filing months before polling day, were dismissed by Republican and Democratic state-after-state officials and many justices, including the Supreme Court dominated by conservatives. Former Trump attorney general William Barr said there was no evidence of fraud that could change the election result.
Freshman Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Has said he will challenge Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Senator Ted Cruz of R-Texas, leading a group of 11 senators seeking to create a commission to examine unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud, is expected to challenge Arizona’s votes. Both men are expected to run for president in 2024.
Senator Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., May also challenge the results in her state. Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia were all pivotal states Biden won in his 306-232 Electoral College victory.
Spokesman David Popp said McConnell was not pressuring his colleagues to vote with him. But he made his point clear, telling GOP senators last week that he considers the vote the most important of his career and sharing his point of view with many colleagues who have researched it.
His most powerful allies are with him, with South Dakota’s GOP Whip John Thune receiving a Twitter threat from Trump after predicting the Senate effort “would fall like a hound.”
McConnell tries to steer his colleagues toward a conservative argument that Congress should not overturn state election decisions. It’s gained momentum in recent days, gaining support from influential members including moderate Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Conservative Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., And Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Helpers expect a majority of GOP senators to join McConnell and all Democrats in tearing down electoral voting challenges. Cotton is considered another presidential candidate.
McConnell, 78, has served as the Republican leader since 2007 and is the longest-serving GOP Senate leader in history. But his status as the leader of the majority is in danger for reasons external to the intra-partisan brawl of the electoral college. The GOP Senate majority faltered early Wednesday as Democrat Raphael Warnock won one of two rounds of the Georgia Senate; a razor-thin margin separated the Republican and Democratic candidates in the second contest. Losing both would cost McConnell his majority.
McConnell has not shied away from past battles with the party’s conservative base. He’s won more than not of late, but in 2010 and 2012 fringe GOP candidates from Nevada, Colorado and Indiana appeared to cost the party seats. But he turned the tide in 2014, pushing back his main challenge and leading the GOP to Senate control after eight years in the minority.
Cruz’s group includes the four freshman Senate Republicans, a troubling sign for McConnell as staunch allies like Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., And Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Have retired. Every freshman has pledged loyalty to Trump in his campaign and is taking his first Senate career vote in accordance with Trump’s wishes.
A day earlier, freshmen might have been more inclined to side with establishment leaders who are likely to be more important than an incumbent president.
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