Sen. Ben Sasse
Ben SasseTrump’s final weeks create chaos for the Republican Congressional senator with Trump’s pardon: ‘This is rotten to the end’ No, Biden hasn’t won yet – yet another nightmare scenario MORE (R-Neb.) On Thursday, it sparked an effort by Republican colleagues to challenge the results of the elections in Congress next week, calling it a “dangerous maneuver”.
“Let’s make it clear what’s going on here: we have a lot of ambitious politicians who think there is a quick way to get in touch with the president’s populist base without doing any real long-term damage,” Sasse wrote in an open letter to constituents.
“But they are wrong – and this problem is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults do not aim a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government, ”he added.
Sasse’s comments, which were posted on Facebook, came a day after his colleague GOP Sen. Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David Hawley GOP lawmaker thinks 100 Republicans can challenge Electoral College results Here are Republicans planning to challenge Electoral College results Kemp dismisses Trump’s request to resign as ‘a distraction’ MORE (Mo.), seen as a potential candidate for the 2024 presidency, announced that he would join Republicans in the House to challenge the Electoral College vote on January 6, ensuring that Congress will have to debate and vote challenges to the results that showed the president-elect Joe Biden
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Donald Trump Trump to shorten the trip to Florida, returns to Washington on Thursday Intel vice president says government agency cyber attack “may have started earlier” Secret Service making changes to presidential details amid concerns over members current aligned with Trump.
“All the clever arguments and rhetorical gymnastics in the world are not going to change the fact that this January 6 effort was designed to deprive millions of Americans simply because they voted for someone from a different party,” wrote Sasse.
The Nebraska Republican did not mention Hawley or any other Republican senator by name. But he noted that he had held talks with colleagues for weeks about Republicans’ efforts in Congress to try to overturn the election results.
Sasse said on Thursday that he had urged his colleagues to “reject this dangerous maneuver” and that there was no basis for Congress to use next week’s joint session to reject votes from the Electoral College.
“We have good reason to think that this year’s election was fair, safe and obedient to the law. That is not to say that it was perfect. But there is no evidentiary basis for us to be suspicious of our elections or to conclude that the results do not reflect the votes our fellow citizens really did, “wrote Sasse in the letter.
Next week’s challenge to the votes of the Electoral College will be the third time that Congress has had to debate an objection since 1887, according to the Congressional Survey Service. The other two times, in 1969 and 2005, were unsuccessful in altering the election results and the legislators’ objections were dismissed.
Successfully objecting to the election results requires a majority of votes in both chambers, meaning that the current effort will also fail. But it could put vulnerable Republican Party candidates for re-election in 2022 and 2024 White House candidates in a political pressure cooker, forcing them to choose between Trump or potentially supply future primary fodder.
Trump and some of his closest allies have spent the weeks since the November 3 election making unsubstantiated allegations of widespread electoral fraud and that the election was “rigged” – arguments that have been brushed aside or rejected in dozens of rejected and judicial challenges. by election experts.
Sasse, in his letter, argued that Trump and his allies were engaged in “a fundraising strategy” rather than making a legal argument.
“This is not a serious government,” added Sasse. “It’s a swampy policy – and it shows very little respect for the sincere people in my state who are writing these checks.”