WASHINGTON – Eleven senators announced this Saturday that they will oppose the ratification of the victory of president-elect, Joe Biden , during the session of the Congress of the United States programmed with this objective, which will force a vote on the result of the November elections .
The maneuver of the eleven senators, including the Texan Ted Cruz , is doomed to failure and will not be able to prevent Congress from ratifying Biden’s victory in the session scheduled for next January 6, but it will ensure a long debate and a vote on the triumph of the president-elect.
In a joint statement, the eleven senators explained that they will oppose the certification of the results until an audit of 10 days.
“Congress should immediately appoint an electoral commission with full authority to invest igar and determine the truth of the facts with the objective of making an emergency audit of 10 days of the electoral results in the disputed states ”, they affirmed.
Besides Cruz, a possible Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2024, the senators who will challenge Biden’s victory are: Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), James Lankford (Oklahoma), Steve Daines (Montana), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), Mike Braun (Indiana), Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), and Tommy Tuberville (Alaska) .
His announcement is in addition to the one made this week Josh Hawley , the first Republican senator in communicate that he would challenge Biden’s victory in support of the outgoing president, Donald Trump, who does not acknowledge his defeat and alleges without proof that there was fraud.
140 Republicans in the Cá Mara of Representatives
On January 6, both houses of Congress will meet to put the final seal on the results of the elections, and it is only enough that a member of the Lower House and another Senate oppose the counting of electoral votes in a state so that they can challenge it.
Some 140 Republicans in the Lower House, such as the congressman Mo Brooks, have assured that they plan to challenge electoral votes in some key states, according to CNN, which cites two Republican sources in the House of Representatives.
In that way, Trump already has allies in both chambers to be able to force a vote on the victory of his opponent.
However, to invalidate the result in one or more states, a vote of both houses, something that in practice is impossible because the Democrats, Biden’s party, control the Lower House.
Trump’s last resort
The January 6 session in Congress is the last step in the process of certifying the electoral result, and will give free rein upon arrival into power of Biden on 20 January.
By Therefore, the maneuver that day will be Trump’s last chance to interfere in the election result, a strategy that many have compared to an attempted coup.
Trump has filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits to challenge the outcome without evidence in several key states where Biden won, and has also pressured state officials to manipulate the American vote.
Biden’s victory became definitively official last 14 December, when it was confirmed by the US Electoral College. .US., And that was when Republican leader Mitch McConnell recognized the Democrat as president-elect.
But Trump remained firm in his defiance of the electoral result, which has deteriorated his relationship with McConnell, who hoped to avoid debate in the Senate on Biden’s triumph that now plan to unleash a dozen Republican senators.
Although there is no prospect that the vote in Congress will change the outcome of the elections. , Yes, it will force each Republican legislator to show himself for or against Trump’s battle against the vote, a last test of loyalty that promises to fill the party with tension.
Additionally, thousands of Trump supporters, including members of the far-right group Proud Boys, plan to demonstrate in Washington on January 6 to support the outgoing president.