Sen. Josh Hawley said he will object to the Electoral College certification during a joint session of Congress scheduled for Jan. 6, giving House Republicans the senator they need to put into action their long shot to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The announcement, shared to social media Wednesday morning, is sure to give President Trump a boost as he refuses to concede the race two months after Election Day over claims of election fraud.
“I will follow the same practice Democrat members of Congress have in years past and object during the certification process on January 6 to raise these critical issues,” Hawley said.
The senator from Missouri also said that he’d object to the certification because “some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws” and because of “the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden.”
“At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections,” he stated, even though federal and state officials have repeatedly said they have not seen evidence of fraud to the level necessary to influence the outcome of the election. “But Congress has so far failed to act.”
During that joint congressional meeting, Congress is meeting to certify Biden’s presidency. Under the rules of the Electoral Count Act, passed in 1887, should a member of both chambers object in writing to each slate of electors, then both the Senate and House will hold a two-hour debate, and they will then vote to accept or reject the challenged electoral college votes, Politico reported.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged his caucus not to support the challenge.
“Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “The Electoral College has spoken.”
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks was the first Republican to announce his intentions to challenge the certification. Reps. Jody Hice of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have also been reportedly tied to the effort.
“Democrats in Congress objected during the certification of electoral votes in order to raise concerns about election integrity,” Hawley said. “They were praised by Democratic leadership and the media when they did. And they were entitled to do so. But now those of us concerned about the integrity of this election are entitled to do the same.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story asserted that no Democratic senator had supported prior Electoral College objections, but this is incorrect. Former Sen. Barbara Boxer raised an objection to the 2004 results. We regret the error.
