WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives asked a federal judge in Texas on Thursday to reject the process of a Republican congressman seeking to give Vice President Mike Pence the power to decide which electoral votes to count when Congress meets on 6 January to end the November presidential election.
The House made the request after Pence himself weighed against the plaintiffs – Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas and several Arizona Republicans who unsuccessfully ran for presidential voters – in a Justice Department petition calling the process “walking legal contradiction” . Mr. Gohmert appointed Mr. Pence as the only defendant, which the Justice Department noted was “ironically the same person whose power they seek to promote”.
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According to a lawsuit, Mr. Gohmert’s lawyers tried to reach an agreement with Mr. Pence regarding the process, but the discussions were unsuccessful.
US Congressman Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, left, and Vice President Mike Pence.
The Gohmert process challenges the procedures that will govern the counting of Congressional electoral votes next week, which will cement the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. In addition, the suit argues that the 1887 Electoral Counting Law, which assigns the vice president a ceremonial role in announcing the results of the elections, circumscribes his power under the 12th Amendment.
The 12th Amendment states that “the President of the Senate must, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all certificates and votes will then be counted.”
“According to the 12th Amendment, Defendant Pence alone has exclusive authority and exclusive discretion to open and allow counting of electoral votes for a given state, and where there are lists of competing voters, or where there is an objection to any list of voters, to determine which voter votes, if any, will be counted, “says the Gohmert document.
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“The use of the change in the active voice and mention of the vice president in the first clause – ‘The president of the Senate … will open all certificates’ – in contrast to the use of the passive voice and omission of the vice president of The second clause – ‘the votes will then be counted’ – demonstrates that the Amendment assigns the Vice-President the task of opening the certificates and leaves the counting of votes to others, “wrote Council General Counsel Douglas Letter in his response.
The Justice Department, while avoiding an opinion on the 12th Amendment, suggested that Gohmert could instead sue Congress itself, since the 1887 law gives the legislature powers they are trying to transfer to Mr. Pence.
The department is acting on behalf of Mr. Pence because he has been sued in his official capacity.
This story continues in The Wall Street Journal.
Siobhan Hughes and Deanna Paul contributed to this article.