Senate Republicans announced Tuesday that they will vote to confirm the results of the November election, breaking with their GOP and Trump colleagues, who have accused Republicans of being part of the “election.” caucus surrender ”for not supporting his attempt to turn the will of the electorate. the face. And House Republicans held a lengthy debate inside Tuesday about the benefits of trying to reverse the election results, something that divided the House’s top Republican leaders. Several Republicans dismissed Trump’s claims Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence could intervene to turn the election on the floor.
A challenge against Bipartisan will be clear at the start of Wednesday’s debate, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expected to begin fighting on the floor after he privately expressed serious concerns and worries about a conservative effort to postpone the election results at Trump’s will, according to a man familiar with the matter.
The GOP director’s comments come after the Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz will oppose Arizona Electoral College’s results during Wednesday’s joint session of Congress, a move that will make the first of many expected – and futile – votes in the House and Senate turn the results.
“We’re doing three but we’re hoping for six,” the Ohio Republican Rep. Said. Jim Jordan, who is in charge of the prosecution at the House. He said they are still having “a lot of conversations with seniors. “
The protests on Wednesday during the formal counting of election votes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will not change the election results. All Democrats and some Republicans rejected the challenges in both chambers, McConnell included.
But the ranks of Republicans who reject the protests reflect the deep disadvantage that many face with Trump’s efforts to reverse election results and embrace conspiracy theories without ground that the election was stolen from him.
Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Tim Scott of South Carolina all said Tuesday that they would vote against GOP protests about the results, while Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas published an op-ed explaining why he was also biased against the protesters, after Trump called out in a tweet.
“To challenge the declaration of state, given the uniqueness of the Constitution, would be a breach of my oath of office – that is not something I am willing to do and it is not something Oklahomans would want me to do. Inhofe said in a statement.
The objections will extend the normal ceremonial process for counting Electoral College votes into Wednesday night and possibly beyond. For each state where a House member and a grandfather are objecting, both chambers will pause and debate the issue for up to two hours, followed by a vote on whether to reject the objection. or to refuse.
The exact number of objections raised is still uncertain. Cruz and a group of GOP senators held a conference call Monday night with several members of the House to map out a strategy, though no final decisions have been made, according to a source involved in the call. And House Republicans held a lengthy debate inside Tuesday about the benefits of trying to reverse the election results.
State Electoral College votes are counted in alphabetical order, so it seems that Cruz’s complaint against Arizona is the first debate.
Cruz and nearly a dozen Senate Republicans said last weekend that they intended to go against Electoral College results unless a commission was hired to investigate voter fraud. An acquaintance of Cruz’s plans argued that the complaint about Cruz was not so much questioned the results of the election because it was a response that he did not receive the commission to examine election results that he himself requested. and his group of 10 other elders.
The protests have provoked public division at the Republican conference, with those in favor of McConnell arguing that the effort has no chance of success and is a threat to democracy. Some Trump allies on the other side are voting for that Republican primary that will vote against it Wednesday.
Trump has focused on Wednesday’s transport session to try to reverse the November election after courts across the country rejected his campaign lawsuit challenging the results, and state legislatures rejected it. the states of war try to oppose voters against the will of the voters of their states. .
Trump has also pushed Vice President Mike Pence, falsely commenting on Twitter Tuesday that Pence could “reject the power of falsely elected voters.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and there is no evidence that voters from the electoral college were mistakenly selected, as all states have confirmed their elections. Wednesday’s Pence role in confirming the election results is largely ceremonial.
In a sign that Pence is preparing for his post overseeing the rectangular session to count the votes, he was spotted in his office off the Senate floor meeting Sunday with supporters and Elizabeth MacDonough, an ordinary Member of Parliament.
A number of House Republicans have rejected Trump’s view that Pence could reject state voters.
“I don’t know how Pence can do anything,” Rep. Rodney Davis, the leading Republican on the House Administration Committee, will have a key role Wednesday as a “speaker” to read and decide the votes. “It’s just the presiding officer.”
The GOP House debates internal complaints
In the House, Republicans engaged in a debate for more than an hour Tuesday morning over whether to file a protest on the floor of the House to reverse the election results, according to multiple members.
The three main directors – Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise and Liz Cheney – stayed out of the debate and allowed the conference to argue about their differences.
The debate was started by a Texas Republican representative. Chip Roy, who argued that the results should not be reversed and that this would be beyond the authority of Congress. But a Louisiana Republican representative. Mike Johnson was arguing the other way around.
“People felt for strong constitutional reasons on both sides of the issue,” Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma and a leading Republican on the Rules Committee. “The leaders really wanted to let the members speak. It was a therapeutic exercise for the conference.”
Cole said: “I think members are still struggling.”
Scalise subsequently suggested to CNN that he sympathized with the complainants’ concerns.
“We had a really good discussion about it earlier today,” said Scalise when asked if he was supportive. “Members have clearly expressed views on all sides but genuine questions have been raised for months now about states that have circumvented their own constitutions and legislatures. And the US Constitution is doing well. It’s clear that it was the legislatures that set the rules for electing voters, and in a number of states that didn’t happen. And that was removed. And I think there’s a lot of debate. “
While Republicans have raised concerns about voting rules imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in states like Pennsylvania, these issues were raised before the election, and the courts have made efforts to refused to disqualify voters after the election.
On the Democrat side, lawyers from the various states who may see protests go to their delegations to discuss how GOP allegations will be reaffirmed, and plan to speak in defense of elections. their states when objections are raised.
“Let me say that our key message is that the Constitution is clear. The election results are clear. The decision of the land courts is clear,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday. “And I expect, of course, that the Electoral College report and the 306 election votes received by Mr Biden will be confirmed at the end of this process. “
This story has been updated with additional commentary.
CNN’s Ted Barrett and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.