As the looming November midterms are already promising to be a circus of MAGA deniers and a potential Trump 2024 presidential run announcement–if he isn’t stuck in depositions in New York or Atlanta, that is–a bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a series of provisions to reform the Electoral Count Act, which clarifies the role of the Vice President and Congress in confirming the winner of a presidential election in the wake of the January 6th.
The group is still working to finalize the legislation and expects to release the text of it as early as next week. They met Wednesday afternoon to hash out the remaining issues and are said to be close to a deal they hope both parties can support. Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have given the bill their blessings.
Did John Eastman ever admit in front of the president that his proposal would violate the electoral count act?
The Senate election group has agreed to clarify the law to make clear the Vice President cannot unilaterally reject electors and to raise the threshold for members of Congress to object to the current rule of one member of the House and Senate. They also plan to amend the Presidential transition rules to provide essential resources to both major candidates in cases of a close or contested election. The group has also discussed including other provisions and has worked on protecting “voter access” as demanded by many Democrats by affirming and emphasizing existing law.
The senators were on the brink of a deal last month but put a pause on the talks after a number of members in the election group began negotiating a gun violence prevention bill. The talks have continued amid public hearings by the January 6th House Select Committee in which members argue Trump sought to exploit loopholes in the system to keep power after his 2020 defeat.
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