Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler announced Monday that she would be among several congressional Republicans objecting to the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory when it is brought up in a joint session on Wednesday.
What are the details?
Loeffler issued a statement explaining her decision:
The American people deserve a platform in Congress, permitted under the Constitution, to have election issues presented so that they can be addressed. That’s why, on January 6th, I will vote to give President [Donald] Trump and the American people the fair hearing they deserve and support the objection to the Electoral College certification process. I have also already introduced legislation to establish a commission to investigate election irregularities and recommend election integrity measures, which I will be working to get passed in the Senate. We must restore trust, confidence, and integrity in our election system.”
The senator’s office noted that she “will object on her own,” not as part of Senator [Ted] Cruz’s Electoral Commission.”
Cruz, a Republican from Texas, announced over the weekend that he and 10 other GOP senators had joined forces and would object to the certification of the Electoral College votes, while calling for the appointment of a commission to conduct a “10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) was the first senator last week to announce that he would object to the Electoral College certification.
The same day Loeffler announced her position, fellow Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue also voiced his support for objecting to the Electoral College certification. But as The Hill noted, “unlike Loeffler, [Perdue] will forfeit his seat until the Georgia races are certified, meaning he will not be in Congress on Wednesday.”
Sens. Loeffler and Perdue declared their positions the day before each of them face Senate runoff elections in Georgia against Democratic challengers, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
Anything else?
While there is a growing number of Republicans publicly expressing their plans to contest the Electoral College results, there is also a growing number of Republicans voicing their opposition to the efforts.
GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) on Sunday denounced the decision of Hawley, Cruz and other Republicans in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Since then, several additional high-profile Republicans in the House and Senate have voiced their opposition to objecting to the Electoral College challenge in Congress, including Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.).