The rules package House Democrats proposed on Friday included funding for the House Administration Committee to resolve contested elections in New York’s 22nd and Iowa’s 2nd Congressional Districts.
The House begins the 117th session on Sunday when lawmakers are sworn in and vote on the rules package that will guide the two-year congressional session.
Iowa Republican Rep.-Elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s certified win was contested by her opponent, Democratic House candidate Rita Hart, to the House Administration Committee on Dec. 22. Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced earlier this week that she would seat Miller-Meeks, who won by a margin of just six votes after an exhaustive recount of 24 counties, Pelosi’s office noted that Miller-Meeks is only being seated “provisionally.”
Additionally, the House Administration Committee will continue to review Hart’s petition, which claims that if 22 excluded ballots were counted in the final tally, it would give her the lead over Miller-Meeks. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley criticized Pelosi over the seemingly temporary status of his Iowa Republican colleague.
“Good news: Speaker will seat Miller Meeks the winner of IA2 on Jan 3 but should b permanent not provisional. Result certified by bipartisan panel/recount &opponent skipped Iowa’s court process. Decision of who represents IA2 shld b made by Iowans NOT partisan politicians in DC,” Grassley tweeted Thursday.
“Further Expenses for Resolving Contested Elections. Subsection (w) authorizes such sums as may be necessary for the Committee on House Administration to resolve contested elections. Funds shall be available for expenses incurred between January 3, 2021, and January 3, 2022. Amounts made available under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on House Administration,” text from the package reads.
New York’s 22nd Congressional District election is still under review by a State Supreme Court Judge in an Oswego court. It will not be resolved before House members are sworn in on Sunday. Presently, the Republican challenger, Claudia Tenney, claims to lead the Democratic incumbent Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 29 votes.
The court will convene on Jan. 4, a day after the new Congress is seated, when Justice Scott DelConte will review ballots that are disputed or objected to by both campaigns, and he is expected to make a ruling before the counties can certify the results of the election.
