It is the latest, and probably the last, piece of a desperate effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to hold on to power in the face of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. In his lawsuit, Gohmert indicates that he expects more than 140 members of the House to join the contestation of Biden’s victory on January 6. He also noted that Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Whip Steve Scalise disagreed with the House’s legal arguments against the Gohmert lawsuit.
While Gohmert’s far-flung effort could nullify the results of democratic elections, his lawyers say that nullifying the 130-year law that governs how Congress counts electoral votes – and putting all power in Pence’s hands – is the best way to heal nation.
“By reaffirming the constitutional prerequisites and the processes for deciding the presidential election and granting the requested redress, this Court can set the stage for a calm and permanent resolution of any and all objections and help smooth the way to a reliable and peaceful for the electoral process president, ”wrote Gohmert’s lawyers.
Gohmert’s latest presentation argues that Pence, through his lawyers, is minimizing and even trivializing his role – relegating himself to a “glorified chief envelope opener” position.
Although the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution requires Pence, as vice president, to chair the January 6 session, its authority is detailed in the Electoral Counting Act of 1887. Requires Pence to introduce voters in alphabetical order by state, and establishes a process for deputies and senators to contest disputed voters.
According to the Electoral Counting Law, this challenge would be solved by separate votes from the House and Senate – and, in the case of the 2020 election, these challenges would be effectively condemned. The Democratic majority in the House would certainly oppose them, and the divided Senate includes a number of Republicans who recognized that Biden was the clear winner in the race.
If Pence refused to accept enough electoral votes to put any candidate above the 270 vote limit, Gohmert postulates in his process, the election would be handed over to the House under a process also provided for in the Twelfth Amendment, which gives state delegations a single vote . Such a formulation would favor Republicans, who are a minority in the House, but control more state delegations than Democrats.
Pence on Thursday asked the court reject Gohmert’s lawsuit against him, arguing that his fight is with the House and the Senate, not with the vice president, who would have power if Gohmert won. Pence did not indicate his own view of his power as president on January 6, and did not indicate whether he intends to present the unofficial election slates that Trump’s allies claim to have launched to compete with certified slates presented in states like Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.
The Chamber presented its own petition, more exhaustive, dismantling Gohmert’s effort as an unconstitutional and veiled effort to nullify the democratic outcome of the 2020 elections. The creators would never have envisaged a process that would allow an acting vice president – often, as in this case, a real candidate in electoral college ballot – having unilateral authority to choose which voters to count, argued the Chamber.
Gohmert’s new petition states that Pence is the appropriate defendant in the case, but also says that the congressman could add US or House or Senate parliamentarians as defendants if that clarified Gohmert’s right to redress.
Justice Department attorneys representing Pence say Pence is not an appropriate or logical defendant in the Gohmert lawsuit and that any complaints the congressman has are with the House, the Senate or both.
Gohmert’s effort garnered additional support on Friday from Republicans who would have given Trump electoral votes if he had won in Michigan. The group filed a 44-page document arguing that current rules for counting electoral votes in Congress should be eliminated so that Pence alone can decide the outcome.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle, appointed by Trump who is in Tyler, Texas, has not scheduled a hearing on the Gohmert lawsuit or indicated when the court can rule. But the judge set a quick schedule for filing the case, including the unusual New Year’s deadline for Congressman’s last report.
Gohmert argued that he needs Kernodle to deliver a decision by 4 January to resolve any potential appeals before the 6 January session.