This week: Lofgren and Cheney to introduce Electoral Count Act reform
by Mychael Schnell - 09/19/22 5:00 AM ET
Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), both members of the Jan. 6 select committee, will introduce legislation this week to reform the Electoral Count Act, a 1887 law that outlines how electoral votes are cast and counted following presidential elections.
The legislation has been highly anticipated since the Jan. 6 panel began its work investigating the Capitol attack, but details on the bill have not yet been released.
The bipartisan duo said they will introduce reforms this week, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the lower chamber “may also consider” the legislation in the coming days.
On the Senate side, lawmakers are continuing talks on government funding as Congress inches closer to the Sept. 30 deadline. Negotiations are currently focused on a permitting reform measure that is causing a fissure in the Democratic party.
In addition to voting on a number of judicial nominations, the Senate will also move on legislation to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which contribute to global warming.
Electoral Count Act reform
Lofgren and Cheney announced in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that they will propose their reforms to the Electoral Count Act this week, capping off months of speculation regarding the Jan. 6 panel’s plan to revise the 1887 law.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet on the bill on Tuesday, and it could hit the floor after that.
The Jan. 6 select committee, which has been probing the Capitol attack for more than a year, has planned to release a number of legislative recommendations to help prevent a similar event from happening again — one of them being an update to the 1887 Electoral Count Act.
The more-than-a-century-old law outlines the procedure for casting and counting electoral college votes as part of the presidential election process. Former President Trump and those close to him attempted to use the arcane statute to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
In their Sunday op-ed, Lofgren and Cheney said they will propose reforms “to protect the rule of law and ensure that future efforts to attack the integrity of presidential elections can’t succeed.”
The pair said their proposal is based on four principles, two being reaffirming that the vice president does not have the authority to reject or delay the counting of electoral slates from a presidential election, and raising the threshold for objecting to a state’s electors from one House lawmaker and senator to one-third of both chambers.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3649857-this-week-lofgren-and-cheney-to-introduce-electoral-count-act-reform/
