I response to ex-President’s Donald Trump hope that his Vice President would help him overturn the 2020 Presidential vote and elector’s vote?
They point out they had been on this before the current hearings….
Democratic and Republican Senator’s seem to be aiming for an agreement to codify the overseeing of the process in the Electoral Count Act, that actually ‘elects’ the American President every four years…
Politically speaking, their task is hard enough as it is. Working with a small group of Democrats, the GOP senators are aiming to get a filibuster-proof majority in their chamber backing an update to the 1887 law that Donald Trump’s allies used to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the 2020 election.
Senators involved in the monthslong effort say they’re getting close to a deal. Their goal is passing legislation on the Electoral Count Act by the end of the year, well in advance of the 2024 campaign — and before House Republicans are poised to take power with little interest in addressing the topic. But any standalone bill they can get through the Senate could compete for attention and floor time with the Jan. 6 committee’s still-unreleased legislative recommendations…
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Senate negotiators on the proposal, led on the Democratic side by West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin, are seeking to clarify that the vice president’s role in the certification of electoral votes is simply ministerial. In other words, their final product would effectively cut off the argument that Trump backers used to try to overturn his loss to Joe Biden.
Collins said the bipartisan group circulated text three weeks ago and expects the Senate Rules Committee to take up the bill. Their plan also seeks to raise the threshold required for members of Congress to challenge election results; clarify arcane language in the law related to a “failed election”; direct the Postal Service to develop best practices for handling absentee ballots; and specify who can submit a slate of electors from any particular state.
Even if the group can finalize language in the coming days — it held a pivotal meeting Wednesday evening — the timing for final passage of their bill is far from clear….
New Legislation Would Clarify Electoral Count Act
“A bipartisan group of 16 senators on Wednesday released legislation that would clarify an 1887 law that then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to use as part of their attempt to overturn the 2020 election results,” the Washington Post reports.
“The legislation, which comes after months of negotiations, would attempt to more clearly define the role of states, presidential electors and the vice president in a presidential election in an effort to prevent the events of Jan. 6, 2021 in the future.”
NBC News: “The bills come as the House’s Jan. 6 committee prepares to holds its last public hearing — at least for the time being — on Thursday outlining evidence it has received in connection to what it calls a plot to overturn the result of the 2020 election.”