Sen. Josh Hawley answers Trump’s call for election challenge
Josh Hawley became the first senator on Wednesday to take up President Donald Trump’s demand that lawmakers challenge the results of the 2020 election, saying he would object to Congress’ certification of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6.
The move by Hawley, R-Mo., is unlikely to alter the outcome of the election, but it will force Republicans to publicly affirm Presidentelect Joe Biden’s victory in a politically fraught test of loyalty to Trump.
Hawley, an ambitious freshman senator, framed the objection as “an effort to highlight the failure” of states “to follow their own election laws as well as the unprecedented interference of Big Tech monopolies in the election.” He did not repeat the president’s false claim of widespread voter fraud.
“Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard,” Hawley said in statement. “I will object on Jan. 6 on their behalf.”
The decision ensures that the certification process, typically a formality, will instead become a debate on the House and Senate floors, elevating Trump’s repeated false assertions.
The objection will force the Senate to debate Hawley’s claim for up to two hours, followed by a vote affirming Biden’s victory. Rejecting the challenge requires a simple majority vote. For Congress to sustain Hawley’s opposition, both chambers would have to do so, a virtual impossibility given that Democrats control the House.
The parallel effort in the House is being led by Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
Hawley, who swept into Washington in 2019 after defeating the incumbent Democrat, Claire McCaskill, is widely considered a potential contender for the 2024 presidential election.
“This is how you run for president on the Republican side in 2024,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the committee that oversees the certification process. “You join a coup attempt. Democracy will prevail.”