McConnell warns against election brawl in Congress
Top Republican fears continued assault on result will harm race for Georgia Senate seat
Fending off a messy fight that could damage Republicans ahead of Georgia Senate runoffs, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned fellow GOP senators yesterday not to join President Donald Trump’s extended assault on the Electoral College results.
In public remarks and private warnings, McConnell worked to push ahead to the Biden era and unite a fractured Republican Party ahead of the runoff elections that will determine Senate control.
First, the Republican leader heaped praise on Trump’s “endless” accomplishments as he congratulated President-elect Joe Biden during a morning Senate speech. Then he pivoted, privately warning Republican senators away from disputing the Electoral College tally when Congress convenes in a joint session January 6 to confirm the results.
That fight would yield a “terrible vote” for Republicans, McConnell told the senators, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the call, which was first reported by Politico. They would have to choose whether to back Trump or publicly buck him.
Republicans are worried about the January 5 Georgia runoff election, where two incumbent Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, face Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in a state that flipped for Biden.
McConnell has been a strong supporter of most Trump efforts. But the turn of events six weeks after Election Day showed the Kentucky senator, backed by his leadership team, seeking to normalise relations with the coming Biden presidency while avoiding the spectacle of pitched floor fight that would divide the party as Trump reluctantly leaves office.
“I want to congratulate Presidentelect Joe Biden,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate.
“Many of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result,” he said. “But our system of government has the processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20. The Electoral College has spoken.”
The Senate leader’s sprint into action after weeks of silence followed other leading Republicans who spoke
At some point you have to face the music. John Thune, South Dakota Senator
up the after the Electoral College voted on Tuesday. They finally said aloud what many Republicans had been signalling privately – that Biden is the winner of the presidential election, and they are essentially abandoning Trump’s election attacks.
From there, the floodgates opened. Several Republican senators confirmed they had spoken with Biden, including Trump ally Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah, the 2012 presidential nominee. Some have had meetings with Biden’s nominees for administration posts.
For his part, Trump continued to push his baseless claims of “voter fraud” in a new tweet yesterday.
Some Republican lawmakers have vowed to carry the fight to January 6, when Congress votes to accept or reject the Electoral College results. Others have said Trump’s legal battles should continue toward resolution by Inauguration Day, January 20.
One House Republican, Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, is planning to challenge the Electoral College results when Congress convenes for the joint session.
At that time, any challenge in Congress would need to be raised by at least one member of the House and Senate. It’s unclear if any GOP senator will join in making the case.
McConnell and his lieutenants, including Senators John Thune of South Dakota and Roy Blunt of Missouri, warned the senators off any Electoral College challenge, calling it dead end since any action would need sign-off by Democrats who have the House majority under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to one of the people familiar with yesterday’s call.
The GOP leaders further warned senators that forcing their colleagues into a vote on Electoral College challenges would prove difficult, especially for those facing their own re-elections in 2022.
No Republican senator spoke up in contradiction.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee is convening a hearing today on election fraud, has “no plans” to join with House Republicans and challenge the results, according to spokesman Austin Altenburg.
With states having affirmed the election results, the Republicans faced a pivotal choice – to acknowledge Biden the president-elect or keep standing silently by as Trump wages a potentially damaging campaign to overturn the election.
“At some point you have to face the music,” Thune, the number two Republican leader, said. “Once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it’s time for everybody to move on.”