People close to the vice president stressed his respect for institutions and said they expect him to act in accordance with the law and hew to the Constitution. And the vice president has spent hours huddling with staff and the Senate parliamentarian to prepare, including studying up on the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs the proceedings, and relevant legal opinions ahead of Wednesday’s joint session.īut Pence, whose office declined to discuss his plans, was not expected to deliver on Trump’s request to overturn the electors, acknowledging he has no such unilateral power. Trump and Pence discussed the proceedings during their weekly lunch in the West Wing on Tuesday, according to a person briefed on the one-on-one conversation and granted anonymity to discuss it. It is up to the House and Senate to voice objections, and states’ electors were chosen in accordance with state law, not fraudulently. Neither the Constitution nor congressional statute grants the vice president any such powers. “He can also decertify the illegal and corrupt results and send them to the House of Representatives for the one vote for one state tabulation.” “He can decertify the results or send them back to the states for change and certification,” Trump said. Trump continued to pile on, insisting in a statement late Tuesday, hours after a lunch with the vice president, that Pence had not informed him that he possessed no power to overturn the will of voters. And you know one thing with him, you’re going to get straight shots. He said Pence was “going to have a lot to say about it. “Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much,” Trump added, drawing laughs. “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Trump said at a rally Monday night in Georgia for candidates in two Senate runoff elections. At the end of the count, seated on the House of Representatives’ rostrum, Pence has the task of announcing who has won the majority of votes for both president and vice president.ĭespite the pro forma nature of Pence’s role, he is under intense pressure from the president and legions of supporters who want the vice president to use the moment to overturn the will of the voters in a handful of critical battleground states. “Tellers” from the House and Senate will record each states’ electoral votes. Pence finds himself in the most precarious position of his tenure as he prepares to preside over Wednesday’s congressional tally of Electoral College votes, bearing witness to the formalization of Trump’s - and his own - election defeat. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday tightened the screws on his most loyal soldier, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to use powers he does not have to overturn the will of voters in a desperate, futile bid to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.
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