The great sifting has begun.
After votes for Joe Biden at the Electoral College on Monday broke the 270-vote threshold he needed to win the presidency, many Republicans in the Senate declared it time to come to terms with a Biden victory.
“I understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), the second-ranking Senate Republican. “But in the end at some point you have to face the music. And I think that once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it’s time for everybody to move on.”
“There’s clearly a constitutional president-elect,” added Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the chamber’s No. 4 Republican leader. Senator Rob Portman (shown, R-Ohio) said “the Electoral College vote today makes clear that Joe Biden is now president-elect.” Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) agreed that “it’s time to turn the page and begin a new administration.” Meanwhile, Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) stated flatly: “Vice President Biden is the president-elect based on the electoral count.”
While some supporters of the president are talking about an effort to stop the steal when Congress counts electoral votes on January 6, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said such a move would be a “bad mistake.”
“There comes a time when you have to realize that despite your best efforts, you’ve been unsuccessful,” Cornyn said. “You’ve got to have a winner and you’ve got to have a loser. So I think once the president’s legal arguments … are exhausted, then certainly Joe Biden is on the path to the next president of the United States.”
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Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), well known for being critical of President Trump, was asked by CNBC’s Shepard Smith if the president is doing “damage” to “democracy” by “trying to overturn the will of the people.” Romey answered: “The biggest concern that I have is that people here genuinely believe that somehow this election was stolen, and there’s not evidence of that.”
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was more reserved when asked about on Monday whether Biden is now the president-elect, but still said: “Certainly walking down that path, isn’t it?” He is still preparing to hold a hearing later this week on alleged “irregularities” in the election.
“Let’s see where the remaining legal challenges go. But it’s a very narrow path,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chair of the Judiciary Committee. He added that although he supports the president’s legal efforts, he is prepared to support Biden’s nominees for secretary of state, Pentagon chief and Treasury secretary.
Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) also apparently tried to play it safe, saying President Trump has every right to “get to the bottom” of election discrepancies and will therefore wait before calling Joe Biden president-elect.
“Every legal vote needs to be counted and every illegal vote needs to be thrown out,” Daines said. “Montana cast three electoral votes for President Trump. We’ll wait now and see if Congress will certify that in January.”
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) gave a decisive “no” when asked if Biden is president-elect.
He’s right, of course. Even though the Electoral College has voted, the states must still send their “Certificates of the Vote,” signed by the electors of each state, to the president of the Senate (the vice president of the United States), the secretary of state, the archivist of the United States, and the federal district court with jurisdiction over where each set of electors convened. It is then up to Congress to certify the results in a joint session.
At least some Republicans are showing backbone. Representative Mo Brooks (Ala.) is among the House Republicans who plan to challenge the election results when Congress convenes on January 6.
“We have a superior role under the Constitution than the Supreme Court does, than any federal court judge does, than any state court judge does,” Brooks told the New York Times. “What we say, goes. That’s the final verdict.”
If only more in the GOP had Brooks’ attitude. How can Republicans even think about turning a blind eye and calling Joe Biden the president-elect while (in some cases) acknowledging that there was fraud? Ignoring crimes, especially ones that attack our republic’s most fundamental institutions, is the surest way to transform a free nation into a third-world hellhole — which is exactly what Democrats and their Republican enablers want.
