The thing is, Congress doesn't have to act at all. The states already have the power to act independently.
Rubio is misinterpreting the problem. It's not about "giving" the Electoral College more time to vote -- that's just a stall to let the states have more time to count the mailed-out ballots. It's about letting the state legislatures solve the problem themselves by convening a special session to vote to appoint the Electors when and if the time limit approaches and there is no settled count.
The power of the state legislatures to choose the method of selecting Electors is Supreme law of the land. No Rubio legislation can override that. Any state legislature that wants to can appoint their Electors directly, even if it is weeks before Rubio's January 1 date.
-PJ
Two entirely different sides of the coin. State’s authority to determine how the electors are chosen and the date that the authorized electors formally vote in the College.
Two things were driving the Bush vs Gore recount in 1999 Florida recounts. One was the procedural aspect whereby Bush wanted whole state recount vs Gore’s push for cherry picked Democrat heavy counties. The second though was to conclude the process by the Electoral College deadline so as to have Florida’s Electoral votes counted at that step. Miss the deadline, not counted, Miss the deadline, not counted is the situation that is setup to happen with the mass absentee balloting this cycle, IMHO. That and fraudulently tilting some states from red to blue for not only the President but also Congress and state level offices.