Washington – The joint session of Congress to be held on Wednesday to count and certify electoral college votes will be marked by high drama as Republicans in the House and Senate have pledged to challenge the results of several battlefield states.
A group of at least 12 Republican senators have said they, along with more than 100 GOP House members, will object to the electoral votes being cast in major states, accusing their elections to be fraudulent despite no widespread evidence. But as the joint session approaches, a growing number of Republican senators are breaking with their peers and intending not to face their challenges.
According to the constitution, the event was perfunctory in the past – in 2017, the process of reading and counting electoral votes took 41 minutes, and in 2013, the joint session lasted just 23 minutes, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.
While the objections will not change the outcome of the election, it will extend the process by which Congress confirms President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. When the House and Senate part ways to debate and vote on an objection, they have up to two hours to consider it, meaning the joint session will likely last well into the night.
The joint session is typically a formality, but this year’s event will force Republicans to decide whether to support President Trump in his efforts to reverse the election outcome or maintain the votes of millions of Americans.
Here are the Republican senators from Monday morning:
Resist electoral vote counting
- Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee
- Mike Braun from Indiana
- Ted Cruz from Texas
- Steve Daines from Montana
- Bill Hagerty from Tennessee
- Josh Hawley from Missouri
- Ron Johnson from Wisconsin
- John Kennedy of Louisiana
- James Lankford of Oklahoma
- Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming
- Roger Marshall from Kansas
- Tommy Tuberville from Alabama
Support electoral vote counting
- Roy Blunt from Missouri
- Richard Burr from North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy from Louisiana
- Kevin Cramer from North Dakota
- Susan Collins from Maine
- John Cornyn of Texas
- Tom Cotton from Arkansas
- Lisa Murkowski from Alaska
- Mitt Romney from Utah
- Ben Sasse from Nebraska
- Richard Shelby from Alabama
- John Thune from South Dakota
- Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania
- Roger Wicker from Mississippi
Unknown / unclear
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell – Earlier, Republican members discouraged over objection, and last week called the upcoming vote “the most consistent vote” he will cast.
- John Barrasso of Wyoming
- John Boozman from Arkansas
- Mike Crapo from Idaho
- Joni Ernst from Iowa
- Deb Fischer from Nebraska
- Lindsey Graham from South Carolina
- Chuck Grassley from Iowa
- John Hoeven from North Dakota
- Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi
- Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma
- Mike Lee from Utah
- Kelly Loeffler from Georgia
- Jerry Moran from Kansas
- Rand Paul from Kentucky
- Rob Portman from Ohio
- Jim Risch from Idaho
- Mike Rounds from South Dakota
- Marco Rubio from Florida
- Rick Scott from Florida
- Tim Scott from South Carolina
- And Sullivan from Alaska
- Thom Tillis from North Carolina
- Todd Young from Indiana