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Opinion The GOP is quietly ‘Trump-proofing’ our system behind his back

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Nobody tell Donald Trump, but Republicans in the Senate appear poised to join Democrats in protecting our democracy from exactly the election subversion he attempted in 2020 — and would surely attempt again in 2024 if given the chance.

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The omnibus spending bill has been released, and buried inside it are provisions that would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how Congress counts presidential electors. Trump’s effort to subvert his presidential reelection loss exploited many weaknesses in the ECA that would be fixed if the omnibus passes, as expected.

Strikingly, all this is happening with little noise from right-wing media or MAGA-loyal lawmakers. A bipartisan group of senators negotiated these reforms for months with the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and they will likely be backed by many or even most GOP senators. Trump himself has been surprisingly mute.






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Yet the fact remains: GOP senators who support these ECA reforms are implicitly acknowledging the ugliest realities of what Trump attempted in 2020. They are acknowledging the true nature of the threat that Trump or an imitator might pose in 2024.

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Just about every main ECA reform in the omnibus responds directly to what Trump did. It would clarify that the vice president’s role in counting electors is ceremonial. (Trump pressured his vice president to halt the count.) It would raise the threshold for Congress to nullify legitimate electors. (Trump got dozens of Republicans to object to Joe Biden’s electors.)
Reform would also combat state-level subversion. Trump pressured GOP state legislators to appoint sham electors for himself, so reform would essentially require governors to certify electors in keeping with state popular vote outcomes. It would create new avenues to legally challenge fraudulent electors and require Congress to count electors that are validated by the courts.











It is often said that reformers must avoid fighting the last war. But these reforms also fight the next one. If a GOP state legislature appoints a losing candidate’s electors in 2024, and the GOP-controlled House counts them, under current law that could produce a stolen election or serious crisis. ECA reform will make that much harder to pull off. MSNBC’s Ari Melber has described the need to legislatively “Trump-proof” our system, and here the description is apt.
Why is all this happening? One reason: This is an easy way for Republicans to do something about the Trump threat. It’s highly technical and doesn’t require direct condemnation of Trump himself. Attaching reform to the omnibus avoids a stand-alone vote on it, which could subject Republicans supporting it to more attacks.
Republicans also have a way to explain it to voters. In a key tell, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued in the Louisville Courier Journal this week that reform would disarm the secret liberal plot to dismantle the electoral college, which would be easier to do (he claimed) if liberals can show the electoral count is prone to exploitation.











In short, Republicans can argue that ECA reform will Own The Libs. Similarly, in coming days you will hear Republicans insist that it will prevent Vice President Harris from subverting the next electoral count and helping steal the 2024 election from Republicans.
Republicans can also plausibly cite self-interest here. Reform will make it less likely that a rerun of Trump’s coup is attempted, which means Republicans (on the state or federal level) are unlikely to face pressure to help steal a future election. It helps in this regard that many Republicans who ran on an explicit willingness to nullify future losses have been defeated.
No one should confuse this with a full-scale outbreak of pro-democracy sentiment among Republicans. Most resolutely support making voting harder, and many are actively working to sabotage a full national reckoning with Trump’s insurrection and widespread GOP support for it.











Still, something of a split screen is now discernible. On one screen, House Republicans are widely dismissing the news that the House select committee examining Trump’s insurrection is recommending criminal charges. They are gearing up to smear the committee’s report, which will document his coup in damning detail.
On the other screen, many Senate Republicans are quietly preparing to support reforms that functionally acknowledge the grave nature of just about every key aspect of Trump’s coup plot. They are implicitly acknowledging that the MAGA movement would do this all over again, and that pathways to this outcome must be choked off.
In effect, Senate Republicans are poised to join Democrats in Trump-proofing our elections behind his back. It’s sobering that this is happening at the very last second, with insurrectionist Republicans set to seize control of the House, but at least it appears close to getting done.

 
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Get it passed….I don’t really care if the logic/reasoning used to do it is to “own the libs” or “stopping Harris from stealing the election”

In fact if it would help matters, Harris should call a press conference and cry about how she doesn’t know what she will do now that the GOP has slammed the door on her evil plan…
 
Nobody tell Donald Trump, but Republicans in the Senate appear poised to join Democrats in protecting our democracy from exactly the election subversion he attempted in 2020 — and would surely attempt again in 2024 if given the chance.

Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates

The omnibus spending bill has been released, and buried inside it are provisions that would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how Congress counts presidential electors. Trump’s effort to subvert his presidential reelection loss exploited many weaknesses in the ECA that would be fixed if the omnibus passes, as expected.

Strikingly, all this is happening with little noise from right-wing media or MAGA-loyal lawmakers. A bipartisan group of senators negotiated these reforms for months with the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and they will likely be backed by many or even most GOP senators. Trump himself has been surprisingly mute.






ADVERTISING


Yet the fact remains: GOP senators who support these ECA reforms are implicitly acknowledging the ugliest realities of what Trump attempted in 2020. They are acknowledging the true nature of the threat that Trump or an imitator might pose in 2024.

Follow Greg Sargent's opinionsFollow

Just about every main ECA reform in the omnibus responds directly to what Trump did. It would clarify that the vice president’s role in counting electors is ceremonial. (Trump pressured his vice president to halt the count.) It would raise the threshold for Congress to nullify legitimate electors. (Trump got dozens of Republicans to object to Joe Biden’s electors.)
Reform would also combat state-level subversion. Trump pressured GOP state legislators to appoint sham electors for himself, so reform would essentially require governors to certify electors in keeping with state popular vote outcomes. It would create new avenues to legally challenge fraudulent electors and require Congress to count electors that are validated by the courts.











It is often said that reformers must avoid fighting the last war. But these reforms also fight the next one. If a GOP state legislature appoints a losing candidate’s electors in 2024, and the GOP-controlled House counts them, under current law that could produce a stolen election or serious crisis. ECA reform will make that much harder to pull off. MSNBC’s Ari Melber has described the need to legislatively “Trump-proof” our system, and here the description is apt.
Why is all this happening? One reason: This is an easy way for Republicans to do something about the Trump threat. It’s highly technical and doesn’t require direct condemnation of Trump himself. Attaching reform to the omnibus avoids a stand-alone vote on it, which could subject Republicans supporting it to more attacks.
Republicans also have a way to explain it to voters. In a key tell, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued in the Louisville Courier Journal this week that reform would disarm the secret liberal plot to dismantle the electoral college, which would be easier to do (he claimed) if liberals can show the electoral count is prone to exploitation.











In short, Republicans can argue that ECA reform will Own The Libs. Similarly, in coming days you will hear Republicans insist that it will prevent Vice President Harris from subverting the next electoral count and helping steal the 2024 election from Republicans.
Republicans can also plausibly cite self-interest here. Reform will make it less likely that a rerun of Trump’s coup is attempted, which means Republicans (on the state or federal level) are unlikely to face pressure to help steal a future election. It helps in this regard that many Republicans who ran on an explicit willingness to nullify future losses have been defeated.
No one should confuse this with a full-scale outbreak of pro-democracy sentiment among Republicans. Most resolutely support making voting harder, and many are actively working to sabotage a full national reckoning with Trump’s insurrection and widespread GOP support for it.











Still, something of a split screen is now discernible. On one screen, House Republicans are widely dismissing the news that the House select committee examining Trump’s insurrection is recommending criminal charges. They are gearing up to smear the committee’s report, which will document his coup in damning detail.
On the other screen, many Senate Republicans are quietly preparing to support reforms that functionally acknowledge the grave nature of just about every key aspect of Trump’s coup plot. They are implicitly acknowledging that the MAGA movement would do this all over again, and that pathways to this outcome must be choked off.
In effect, Senate Republicans are poised to join Democrats in Trump-proofing our elections behind his back. It’s sobering that this is happening at the very last second, with insurrectionist Republicans set to seize control of the House, but at least it appears close to getting done.

Rare good news from that side of the aisle. Nice to see some grownup thinking over there for a change.
 
POS:

McCarthy threatens to tank McConnell’s agenda if Senate GOP votes for omnibus​


House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is threatening to tank the legislation of Senate Republicans who back the omnibus spending bill being considered this week, setting up a showdown with his counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).


Bills from Republican senators, including McConnell himself, will be "dead on arrival" in the House under his speakership, McCarthy warned, throwing his weight behind a letter signed by 13 Republicans in the House vowing to whip against legislation from lawmakers who cast a "yes" vote later this week on the spending bill.



'DECLARE WAR': CONSERVATIVES DEMAND MCCARTHY PLAY HARDBALL WITH MCCONNELL ON SPENDING BILL


"Agreed. Except no need to whip — when I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2T monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people," McCarthy tweeted in response to the letter.




McCarthy's warning shot comes as House Republicans have pressured the aspiring speaker to take a harder line against McConnell, who has advanced a longer-term spending deal with the Democrats. McCarthy has publicly insisted that the Senate should pass a short-term funding bill instead that allows the bill to be negotiated once Republicans retake the House on Jan. 3.



McCarthy has publicly pressed McConnell to change course on the omnibus, but a conservative flank in the House wants McCarthy to go further and "declare war" on McConnell-backed bills if he votes for the $1.7 trillion spending bill. McCarthy is currently seeking to court a handful of defections within his conference that threaten to derail his speakership bid, given the narrow 222-seat majority House Republicans will have in January.


The group of 13 congressmen is demanding the Senate "refrain from entertaining any spending bill that extends beyond the first few months" of the new year so that the GOP can negotiate a budget when it has control of the lower chamber.


"We are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill — including the Republican leader," the Monday letter sent to GOP senators said.


"Senate Republicans have the 41 votes necessary to stop this and should do so now and show the Americans who elected you that they weren't wrong in doing so," the letter continued. "This slated omnibus spending bill is an indefensible assault on the American people. It is an assault on the separation of powers. It is an assault on fiscal responsibility. It is an assault on basic civic decency."


CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER


The letter was signed by Reps. and Reps.-elect Chip Roy (R-TX), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Bob Good (R-VA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Andy Ogles (R-TN).


Congress has until midnight Friday to fund a spending bill, either the omnibus or a stop-gap measure, that would avert a government shutdown.
 
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