GOP seeks to avoid messy Trump fight over Electoral College
December 26, 2020 in News by RBN Staff
United States electoral college map showing number of electoral votes by state. (Photo by: Encyclopaedia Britannica/UIG via Getty Images)
source: thehill.com
BY ALEXANDER BOLTON
Senate Republicans say Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will reach out to Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) in an attempt to avoid a messy floor fight next month over finalizing the results of the Electoral College vote.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said GOP leaders will tell Tuberville that voting to suspend the tally of the Electoral College vote next month will be a futile — and politically damaging — move.
“Ultimately every senator will have to make their own decision about that but I think there will be people, yeah, reaching out him just to kind of find out” what he’s going to do, Thune said of Tuberville’s intentions about the Electoral College tally on Jan. 6.
“If nothing else, we need to kind of know the plan,” he added. “We’ll see. He’s made some public statements” about objecting to the vote.
“I’m hoping in the end that all senators will conclude that this election needs to be over with and it’s time to move on,” he said.
President Trump is encouraging Tuberville, who beat former Sen. Jeff Sessions in the Alabama Republican primary with Trump’s support, to contest the electoral vote tally when Congress convenes in a joint session next month.
Trump said in a radio interview over the weekend that he spoke to Tuberville about challenging the vote count and the incoming senator appeared enthusiastic about the idea.
“He’s so excited,” Trump said, adding that Tuberville is grateful for the president’s support during the election. “He said, ‘You made me the most popular politician in the United States.’ He said, ‘I can’t believe it.’ He’s great. Great senator.”
One Republican senator said he expects McConnell to reach out to Tuberville to persuade him that forcing a Senate debate over the legitimacy of any state’s electoral votes is not a good idea.
“I’m sure the leader’s going to reach out and talk to him,” said the senior lawmaker of the expectation that McConnell will try to step in to avoid a messy floor fight over the election results.
