The House passed the Presidential Election Reform Act Thursday, in a 229-203 vote. Nine Republicans voted with Democrats on a bill that would ensure the loopholes Donald Trump attempted to exploit in the 1887 Electoral Count Act are closed.
Those nine—Reps. Liz Cheney (WY), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), Chris Jacobs (NY), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Peter Meijer (MI), Tom Rice (SC) and Fred Upton (MI) are all leaving Congress this term, either defeated in primaries or retiring. The remaining 203 Republicans all endorsed a potential future coup from Trump. In fact, Republican leadership demanded that their members vote against the bill. They called it “the Democrats’ latest attempt at a federal takeover of elections.”
Of course, that isn’t what the bill does. It clarifies that the Vice President has no power to reject electoral votes, makes sure that one-third of the House and one-third of the Senate agree in order to raise objections to any presidential electors, and makes sure that governors can only send electors for president for the candidate who actually won on Election Day. It also makes sure that a valid basis for members to object to counting certain electors is if they are voting for a candidate who participated in an insurrection. Guess who?
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“If your aim is to prevent future efforts to steal elections, I would respectfully suggest that conservatives should support this bill,” Rep. Cheney, who wrote the bill with Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA) said on the floor. “If instead, your aim is to leave open the door for elections to be stolen in the future, you might decide not to support this or any other bill to address the Electoral Count Act.” Like these Republicans were going to make that choice.
Now it’s over to the Senate, where Mitch McConnell still won’t say where he stands on keeping Trump out of office. He allowed bipartisan negotiations on the Senate’s version of the bill, putting Susan Collins (ME) in charge, which guaranteed that the process took months and months longer than warranted. Other senators are speaking on his behalf.
“I presume that if we get the bill that was negotiated by the bipartisan group, that he’ll support it,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). Yes, because Mitch McConnell is about nothing more than bipartisanship.
McConnell himself has said that Congress does “need to fix” the old law. But as for the bill itself, “And I’ll have more to say about my feelings about that later.” If he had the choice, he’d keep saying that until after this election, or well into the next one when he could try to pull a “we can’t possibly do anything about election laws so close to an election” ploy.
He’ll have to declare himself, however, since the Senate Rules Committee is going to vote on it Tuesday, and he’s on the committee. He won’t be needed to break a filibuster—11 Republicans already back the bill, and he’s already in Trump’s dog house. “REPUBLICAN SENATORS SHOULD VOTE NO!” Trump screeched Thursday. This makes the whole situation a little more interesting for McConnell, because if Republicans do manage to take the Senate, it will be with at least some Trump toadies and that could mean a real fight over whether he’s Majority Leader. So this isn’t a gimme vote for McConnell.
McConnell’s heart isn’t really in the fight to secure democracy, anyway. He accomplished what matters most to him on Thursday, with Senate Republicans unanimously blocking relatively modest dark money reforms in the DISCLOSE Act. The Democrats’ bill would require Super PACs to disclose the identities of big donors—people ponying up $10,000 or more.
Every Republican voted to filibuster that. It doesn’t even limit how much any one person, corporation, or whatever can give to a Super PAC. It just says they have to stand behind their donations publicly. McConnell called that “an insult to the First Amendment” in exhorting his colleagues to vote against it.
“Today’s liberal pet priority is a piece of legislation designed to give unelected federal bureaucrats vastly more power over private citizens’ First Amendment rights and political activism, and to strip privacy away from Americans who speak out about politics in their private lives,” McConnell said before the vote. Yes, the person who can write a $10,000 check to a political entity is definitely someone whose rights have to be protected.
The integrity of the next presidential election? That’s harder for him to decide on, since 90% of elected Republicans are fine with another Trump coup attempt.
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Those nine—Reps. Liz Cheney (WY), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), Chris Jacobs (NY), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Peter Meijer (MI), Tom Rice (SC) and Fred Upton (MI) are all leaving Congress this term, either defeated in primaries or retiring. The remaining 203 Republicans all endorsed a potential future coup from Trump. In fact, Republican leadership demanded that their members vote against the bill. They called it “the Democrats’ latest attempt at a federal takeover of elections.”
Of course, that isn’t what the bill does. It clarifies that the Vice President has no power to reject electoral votes, makes sure that one-third of the House and one-third of the Senate agree in order to raise objections to any presidential electors, and makes sure that governors can only send electors for president for the candidate who actually won on Election Day. It also makes sure that a valid basis for members to object to counting certain electors is if they are voting for a candidate who participated in an insurrection. Guess who?
If you want to help make America the place it ought to be, it starts by electing more and better Democrats. And you can do your part right here. Donate now to support Daily Kos-endorsed Democrats!
Campaign Action
“If your aim is to prevent future efforts to steal elections, I would respectfully suggest that conservatives should support this bill,” Rep. Cheney, who wrote the bill with Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA) said on the floor. “If instead, your aim is to leave open the door for elections to be stolen in the future, you might decide not to support this or any other bill to address the Electoral Count Act.” Like these Republicans were going to make that choice.
Now it’s over to the Senate, where Mitch McConnell still won’t say where he stands on keeping Trump out of office. He allowed bipartisan negotiations on the Senate’s version of the bill, putting Susan Collins (ME) in charge, which guaranteed that the process took months and months longer than warranted. Other senators are speaking on his behalf.
“I presume that if we get the bill that was negotiated by the bipartisan group, that he’ll support it,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). Yes, because Mitch McConnell is about nothing more than bipartisanship.
McConnell himself has said that Congress does “need to fix” the old law. But as for the bill itself, “And I’ll have more to say about my feelings about that later.” If he had the choice, he’d keep saying that until after this election, or well into the next one when he could try to pull a “we can’t possibly do anything about election laws so close to an election” ploy.
He’ll have to declare himself, however, since the Senate Rules Committee is going to vote on it Tuesday, and he’s on the committee. He won’t be needed to break a filibuster—11 Republicans already back the bill, and he’s already in Trump’s dog house. “REPUBLICAN SENATORS SHOULD VOTE NO!” Trump screeched Thursday. This makes the whole situation a little more interesting for McConnell, because if Republicans do manage to take the Senate, it will be with at least some Trump toadies and that could mean a real fight over whether he’s Majority Leader. So this isn’t a gimme vote for McConnell.
McConnell’s heart isn’t really in the fight to secure democracy, anyway. He accomplished what matters most to him on Thursday, with Senate Republicans unanimously blocking relatively modest dark money reforms in the DISCLOSE Act. The Democrats’ bill would require Super PACs to disclose the identities of big donors—people ponying up $10,000 or more.
Every Republican voted to filibuster that. It doesn’t even limit how much any one person, corporation, or whatever can give to a Super PAC. It just says they have to stand behind their donations publicly. McConnell called that “an insult to the First Amendment” in exhorting his colleagues to vote against it.
“Today’s liberal pet priority is a piece of legislation designed to give unelected federal bureaucrats vastly more power over private citizens’ First Amendment rights and political activism, and to strip privacy away from Americans who speak out about politics in their private lives,” McConnell said before the vote. Yes, the person who can write a $10,000 check to a political entity is definitely someone whose rights have to be protected.
The integrity of the next presidential election? That’s harder for him to decide on, since 90% of elected Republicans are fine with another Trump coup attempt.
RELATED STORIES
House releases bipartisan election bill, gives Senate GOP chance to put up or shut up on passing fix
Senate group introduces electoral count reform, just the first step to restoring democracy
Reforming the Electoral Count Act is necessary, but not sufficient, to save our democracy
Supreme Court agrees to hear case that could shatter democracy in any state with a GOP legislature