Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Congress Approves Rules Regulating Jan. 6 Electoral Vote Count
https://www.theepochtimes.com ^ | January 4, 2021 5:40, Last Updated: January 4, 2021 9:48 | By Zachary Stieber

Posted on 01/04/2021 8:12:08 AM PST by Red Badger

The House of Representatives and the Senate on Sunday adopted rules that outline how the counting of Electoral College votes will take place on Jan. 6.

The rules were passed without recorded votes. Instead, a voice vote was used in both chambers.

The guidance, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), says the chambers will meet in a joint session on Jan. 6 presided over by Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence, as president of the Senate, will open “all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes,” the rules state, a nod to how seven states sent so-called competing electors, or certificates for both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, to Washington.

The certificates and papers will be opened, presented, and acted upon in alphabetical order, starting with Alabama.

This is when dozens of Republicans—50 representatives and 12 senators, according to an Epoch Times tally—are planning to object to some certificates, alleging election irregularities including voter fraud and failure to follow state election laws.

That will trigger a withdrawal from the joint session and a two-hour debate, followed by votes in each chamber. Only with a majority vote from both the House and the Senate would a challenge be upheld, which even supporters find unlikely, considering Democrats who control the House and Senate Republican leadership, including McConnell, have expressed disapproval with the plan to object.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter to colleagues on Sunday noted that objections can happen but said, at the end of the day, Biden “will be officially declared the next president.”

“On Monday, we will have a clearer picture of how many state votes will be subject to an objection. Our choice is not to use the forum to debate the presidency of Donald Trump,” she added.

Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), and Jacob LaTurner (R-Kan.) said Sunday they will join in the objections, saying in a statement that several states are “facing serious allegations of voter fraud and violations of their own state law.”

“This action is not taken lightly and comes after extensive study and research. Kansans deserve to know that all legal, and only legal, votes were counted. We hope our actions begin to restore the confidence of tens of millions of our fellow Americans that feel their sacred right to vote is under attack,” they added.

Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) also announced Sunday they’ll object.

But seven Republican representatives, including several strong Trump supporters, said they will not join in the effort, and denounced the move.

“Of the six states as to which questions have been raised, five have legislatures that are controlled by Republicans, and they all have the power to send a new slate of electoral votes to Congress if they deem such action appropriate under state law. Unless that happens between now and Jan. 6, 2021, Congress will have no authority to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election,” the group wrote in a statement.

“To take action otherwise—that is, to unconstitutionally insert Congress into the center of the presidential election process—would amount to stealing power from the people and the states. It would, in effect, replace the Electoral College with Congress, and in so doing strengthen the efforts of those on the left who are determined to eliminate it or render it irrelevant.”

The weekend saw a flurry of action, with 11 senators following Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in announcing they’d join in the objections unless Congress appoints a commission to examine alleged election irregularities. The idea is modeled on the panel formed in 1877 amid a contested election.

Hawley’s Dec. 30 announcement triggered a number of House members to announce their intention to object. The number planning to do so has more than doubled since then.

A segment of Republicans are focusing on Pence’s role in the proceedings. They sued the vice president and asked a court to rule he has the “exclusive authority” to decide between dueling electors.

A judge dismissed the case and an appeals court rejected an appeal.

Pence had asked the court to dismiss the suit but said through a spokesman on Saturday that he supports efforts to challenge electoral votes.

“Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election,” Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said in the statement sent to media outlets.

Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bidenloverssettingin; electoralvotes; faggotssettingin; jan62021; rinossettingin; uknowwhatssettingin
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-110 next last
To: Red Badger

As noted above, “The Fix is In.” Voice votes in both the House and Senate approving the ‘rules’ which simultaneously absolved members from having to stand up and be counted is the DC equivalent of flipping off Trump’s supporters and giving them the cold shoulder at the same time.
Watch the procedure on the 6th, tape if you can, see if the evidence of widespread and highly organized multi-state voter fraud gets an open and honest hearing, or if an interpretation of the voice vote approved ‘rules’ (possibly requiring a (voice) vote in both chambers) somehow prevents Trump’s evidence from presentation and open consideration.
(Anyone who remembers how the GOP Senate kept evidence of Bill Clinton’s crimes from open disclosure during his impeachment trial will recognize the modus operandi.)


61 posted on 01/04/2021 10:01:12 AM PST by Knocker (Tell the truth and run like hell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger; bitt

From the article:

“...Pence, as president of the Senate, will open “all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes,” the rules state, a nod to how seven states sent so-called competing electors, or certificates for both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, to Washington. ...”

Competing sets of electors got sent in !!!


62 posted on 01/04/2021 10:06:02 AM PST by WildHighlander57 ((WildHighlander57 returning after lurking since 2000))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: WildHighlander57
...seven states sent so-called competing electors, or certificates for both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, to Washington. ...

That's not really accurate. The "states" didn't send alternative slates, a rump group of Republicans did.

A bunch of Democrat representatives in Texas could send in a alternate slate of Democratic electors and they would carry exactly the same weight.

63 posted on 01/04/2021 10:37:58 AM PST by semimojo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Yeah right


64 posted on 01/04/2021 10:55:37 AM PST by mabarker1 ((Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress !!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: mabarker1

Yeah, with all those Social Security Treasury Bonds................


65 posted on 01/04/2021 10:57:32 AM PST by Red Badger (TREASON is the REASON for the SLEAZIN'.................................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

But they say SSec is solvent ..


66 posted on 01/04/2021 11:02:22 AM PST by mabarker1 ((Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress !!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Fury

... a long, Long time ago I was military...

I remember raising my hand and saying the words “...foreign and domestic...”

I heard a great example of the current situation that should give everyone pause, this is what was said...

‘I can’t predict what Trump will do but I can reverse engineer what he does and he hides what he really is up to by establishing a narrative that leads his opponents into complete and total surprise’.

Somehow (as was mentioned earlier), I really don’t think anyone is thinking big enough.

With that in mind I’m pretty sure he’s never going to leave his family to suffer the lawless mob in DC or Portland/Seattle and across the nation as they have promised his family will suffer...

Just sayin’...


67 posted on 01/04/2021 11:21:12 AM PST by trfree98 (Words have meaning but values and actions define character and real time outcomes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Fury

Jan 6th has to play out Jan 20th does not.


68 posted on 01/04/2021 11:32:52 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: DoodleDawg
I doubt that Trump is under any illusions that McConnell has the President's back. Not after the last month or more.

Agreed. Senator McConnell is concerned about protecting the independence and power of the Senate and for himself.

With that said, I think he's a weasel. Forearmed with that knowledge can lead to a good negotiating outcome.

I think at times President Trump has misjudged his influence on the House and the Senate. Just because he's the President does not mean they will agree or go along with what he wants. That's just not the way politics works at the Federal level.

69 posted on 01/04/2021 11:33:40 AM PST by Fury (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: semimojo

There is not a snowballs chance in hell that the word of a Democrat would carry the same weight as the word of a non-RINOcrat Republican.


70 posted on 01/04/2021 11:36:32 AM PST by Sense
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: trfree98

I really don’t think anyone is thinking big enough.
__________________________________________________________

Similar thoughts here in south Texas. Besides his operating method, he’s also in more than one interview over decades stating he does not believe in “turning the other cheek” and if someone has “done a number on you” and you get the chance to “do a number on them” you should “BY ALL MEANS” do so.

I doubt he wants to go down as “the one who folded”.


71 posted on 01/04/2021 11:37:07 AM PST by JCL3 (As Richard Feynman might have said, this is reality taking precedence over public relations.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Georgia Girl 2
Jan 6th has to play out Jan 20th does not.

Yes, it does. There's no way to stop it.

"Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January..."

The terms of the President and Vice President will end on 01/20. That's going to happen.

"Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified."

If neither the President or Vice President have qualified for. Congress may by law who shall than act as President.

The 20th Amendment will be operating on 01/20. It can't be stopped. Not by martial law, not by the Insurrection Act. It's going to happen.

72 posted on 01/04/2021 11:39:43 AM PST by Fury (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: PghBaldy

Maybe if you read the filings and the evidence they presented you would be better informed. The courts mostly never examined the evidence. They denied standing and engaged in other judicial jujitsu to deny a fair judicial hearing on the evidence.


73 posted on 01/04/2021 11:42:43 AM PST by WashingtonSource
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Fury

Wow.

If neither the President or Vice President have qualified. Congress may by law *declare* who shall than act as President, until a President or Vice President have qualified.


74 posted on 01/04/2021 11:47:34 AM PST by Fury (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: lepton

“On the other hand, the executive branches of those states say they have not such ability, nor ability to even call themselves into session to try.”


All of the executive branches of all of the states could not override the Constitution, which gives state legislatures the SOLE ability to determine who the Electors are in a Presidential election. The normal state rules regarding calling a special session simply do not apply as long as the sole purpose of that session is to vote on this issue.


75 posted on 01/04/2021 12:03:22 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Fury

>>> No, thankfully that’s not going to happen.

If you are right about Biden taking office,

AND right about this, in that even the military won’t intervene,

Then what HAS happened is the death of America.

There will be no more free and fair elections if this level of fraud can stand.

So you better be wrong... or the 2nd amendment applies.


76 posted on 01/04/2021 12:06:55 PM PST by Safrguns
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd

You nailed it.

Being in a situation, like Ceaser, where you have nothing to loose by gambling it all is not something you put a man like Trump into.

Never corner a tiger unless you are prepared to fight him to the death.

Most politicians do not live in that space. They can not comprehend someone like Ceasar or Trump crossing the Rubicon and letting the dice fly.

We are at that stage of the decline anyway. The nobles will not work together to solve issues, and the people are so weak they want a strong man. And we will get one soon. Maybe not Trump, but someone will take the crown.


77 posted on 01/04/2021 12:07:35 PM PST by redgolum (If this culture today is civilization, I will be the barbarian )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Fury

I guess it will happen in your mind.


78 posted on 01/04/2021 12:09:21 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd

I believe that Trump and his family ARE in mortal danger if he doesn’t take the oath of office.

This situation has an uncomfortably close relationship to the overthrow of the Czar and the later takeover by the Bolsheviks. First, the Czar (the old system) was deposed, replaced by a “moderate” Kerensky (Biden). Not long afterwards, the incompetent Kerensky (aided by the Communists purposely making things worse behind the scenes) was himself deposed in the October Revolution (November in the modern calendar). Civil war ensued and, when it became possible that the Czar and his family might be rescued, they were brutally executed.

I can see the same thing happening in the near future, even as I pray that it won’t. But the nature of Leftists is the same across all geographical and temporal boundaries - they want complete and total power over everyone else, and simply will not brook any opposition. They will literally murder millions and destroy entire countries to ensure their power.


79 posted on 01/04/2021 12:09:22 PM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, “The Weapon Shops of Isher”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Georgia Girl 2
I guess it will happen in your mind.
80 posted on 01/04/2021 12:10:46 PM PST by Fury (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-110 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson