Andrew Harnik / AP
- House Republicans met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to discuss their plan to overturn the Electoral College votes in January, CNN reported.
- Senate Majority whip John Thune slammed their efforts.
- “I think the thing they got to remember is, it’s not going anywhere. I mean in the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” Thune said.
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Republican John Thune, the Senate Majority whip, slammed House Republican who met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to discuss their plan to overturn the Electoral College votes in January, CNN reported.
“I think the thing they got to remember is, it’s not going anywhere. I mean, in the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” Thune said of the effort.
Representative Mo Brooks, alongside several other conservative members of the House, met with Trump and Pence on Monday.
“I believe we have multiple senators, and the question is not if but how many,” Brooks told CNN.
Rep. Jody Hice also attended the meeting and, in a tweet, said: “I will lead an objection to Georgia’s electors on Jan 6. The courts refuse to hear the President’s legal case. We’re going to make sure the People can!”
The meeting was reportedly focused on baseless claims that the election was stolen from Trump. Attendees expressed confidence that the House and Senate would debate the legitimacy of the votes on January 6, when the electoral votes that confirm President-elect Joe Biden are solidified.
On January 6, Pence will preside over a joint session of Congress to finalize the vote. If no member objects to the results in writing, then the results will be officially certified. However, both a member of the House and a member of the Senate must vote to challenge a state's electors. And if that happens, then both the House and the Senate would have to deliberate on whether to accept the electors.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had previously warned senators not to join Trump's efforts to delegitimize electoral votes, worrying that it could ruin the Senate election run-offs in Georgia.
CNN reported that while it's not likely that the efforts to challenge the results would be successful, a few senators, including Josh Hawley and Rand Paul, have not ruled it out just yet.