Where GOP senators stand on objecting to Electoral College votes
Washington — The joint session of Congress scheduled to occur Wednesday for the counting and certifying of Electoral College votes is set to be marked by high drama, as Republicans in the House and Senate have pledged to challenge the results from several battleground 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 cast in key states, charging their elections were rife with fraud despite no widespread evidence. But as the joint session nears, a growing number of Republican senators are breaking with their colleagues and plan not to sign on to their challenges.
Required under the Constitution, the event has in the past been perfunctory: In 2017, the process of reading and tallying electoral votes spanned 41 minutes, and in 2013, the joint session lasted just 23 minutes, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.
While the objections are not going to result in a change in the outcome of the election, it will prolong the process by which Congress affirms President-elect Joe Biden's victory. When the House and Senate separate to debate and vote on an objection, they have up to two hours to consider it, meaning the joint session is likely to stretch well into the night.
The joint session is typically a formality, but this year's event will force Republicans to decide whether to back President Trump in his attempts to reverse the outcome of the election or uphold the votes cast by millions of Americans.
Only one of Georgia's GOP senators will be participating in the Electoral College — both Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are in runoff elections on Tuesday, but because Loeffler is filling the seat left vacant by Senator Johnny Isakson's retirement and that term is up in 2022, she remains a senator until the winner in her race against Democrat Raphael Warnock is certified. Perdue supports the actions of senators who oppose counting some of the electoral votes, but his term ended on January 3, and the winner of his race against Democrat Jon Ossoff won't be certified in time for the winner to be seated on January 6.
Here is where Republican senators stand, as of Tuesday:
Oppose the counting of electoral votes
- Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
- Mike Braun of Indiana
- Ted Cruz of Texas
- Steve Daines of Montana
- Bill Hagerty of Tennessee
- Josh Hawley of Missouri
- Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
- John Kennedy of Louisiana
- James Lankford of Oklahoma
- Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
- Roger Marshall of Kansas
Rick Scott of Florida
Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
- Kelly Loeffler of Georgia
Support the counting of electoral votes
- Roy Blunt of Missouri
- John Boozman of Arkansas
- Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
- Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
- Susan Collins of Maine
- John Cornyn of Texas
- Tom Cotton of Arkansas
- John Hoeven of North Dakota
- Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
- Jerry Moran of Kansas
- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Rob Portman of Ohio
- Mitt Romney of Utah
- Ben Sasse of Nebraska
- Tim Scott of South Carolina
- Richard Shelby of Alabama
- John Thune of South Dakota
Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
- Roger Wicker of Mississippi
- Todd Young of Indiana
Unknown/unclear
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — Previously discouraged Republican members for objecting, and last week called the upcoming vote "the most consequential vote" he will cast.
John Barrasso of Wyoming
Mike Crapo of Idaho
Joni Ernst of Iowa
Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi
Mike Lee of Utah
Kelly Loeffler of Georgia
Rand Paul of Kentucky
Jim Risch of Idaho
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Marco Rubio of Florida
Dan Sullivan of Alaska