Senate Democrats Block Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty’s Amendment Barring Illegal Aliens from Being Counted on the Census

The U.S. Senate failed to pass an amendment introduced by U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) that would bar illegal immigrants from being factored into the count for congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections on Friday.

A total of 47 Democrats, three Independents, and one Republican senator voted against the amendment, which failed to pass by a 45-51 vote.

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Commentary: Was It Legal to Appoint Jack Smith in the First Place?

Jack Smith

Was Special Counsel Jack Smith illegally appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland and is his prosecution of former Pres. Donald Trump unlawful? That is the intriguing issue raised in an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court by Schaerr Jaffe, LLP, on behalf of former Attorney General Ed Meese and two law professors, Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, in the case of U.S. v. Trump.

We won’t get an immediate answer to this question because on the Friday before Christmas, the Supreme Court issued a one-line order refusing to take up Smith’s request that the court review Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which was denied by the trial court, in the federal prosecution being pursued by Smith in the District of Columbia. The special counsel had petitioned the court to take the case on an expedited basis, urging the justices to bypass review by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

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Commentary: 2024 Will Test the Longevity of the Civil Society

Trump Biden 2024

Unlike in 2020, when then-candidate Joe Biden was leading almost all of the polls — out of 293 national polls taken during that cycle compiled by RealClearPolitics.com, Biden led 285 of them, or 97 percent of them — this time around, former President Donald Trump has an observable advantage in the polls, leading President Biden in 103 out of 214 polls taken, or 48 percent of them. Biden has only led 81, or just 38 percent, and 30 are tied, or 14 percent.

Since, given Democrats’ historical advantage in the popular vote — Republicans have not won the popular vote since 2004 but still managed to eke out Electoral College wins in 2000 and 2016 without it — any potential tie in the popular vote would still bode well for Trump and Republicans in 2024. So, really, about 62 percent of the polls (and rising) showing that at this point in the race, with less than a year to go until November, Trump definitely has an advantage.

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Analysis: Trump Has Led Biden in 20 Out of the Last 26 National Polls Taken, Biden Led Just Four of Them

Don’t look now, but former President Donald Trump appears to be opening up a consistent lead in national polls against incumbent President Joe Biden, with Trump beating Biden 47.2 percent to 43.7 percent, according to the latest average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.com.

In fact, for more than a month, Trump has led Biden in 20 out of the last 26 national polls taken. Biden led four of them, and two were tied. The leads vary in the polls, anywhere from 10 points to 1 point, but begin to tell a very important story with little more than a week to go until the 2024 New Year begins: a larger plurality or maybe even a majority of Americans would rather see Donald Trump be president than Joe Biden beginning in 2025.

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Report: Fani Willis Has Transcript Exonerating Former Trump Lawyer Ray Smith, Former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is reportedly in possession of a meeting transcript that exonerates two defendants named in her August 14 indictment against former President Donald Trump, his former lawyers, and Georgians involved in his effort to contest the 2020 presidential election.

A transcript of a December 14, 2020 meeting of those involved in the effort to create alternative Trump delegates in Georgia for the 2020 election, reviewed by The Federalist, reveals that Shafer and former Trump attorney Ray Smith specifically planned to act as “Republican nominees for Presidential Elector,” and not “duly elected and qualified” electors, in what seems to be a direct contradiction to Willis’s indictment.

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New Forecast Says the 2024 Election Will Come Down to These Four States

A new political forecast released Thursday argues that the 2024 general election could come down to four states — Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The four “toss-ups” and their 56 Electoral College votes make for a “very narrow playing field” in 2024, which The Cook Political Report views as being another matchup between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to author Amy Walter. Whether a third-party ticket is present, as well as the sway of suburban, moderate and Latino voters, will be key in determining the outcome of these battleground states.

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Movement to Decide Presidency by Popular Vote Gains States, Momentum But Also Faces Challenges

The effort to change how the United States elects its presidents – from the existing Electoral College process to a national popular vote – is gaining momentum, but critics are questioning its legality and whether it improves the country’s election system. 

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, with Minnesota being the latest and Michigan and Nevada considering it.

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State Senate DFLers Vote to Abandon Electoral College for National Popular Vote

DFLers in the Minnesota House and Senate voted this month to transform American presidential elections by abandoning the Electoral College.

The Senate voted along party lines, 34-33, on Wednesday to pass an elections omnibus policy bill that includes a provision that would have Minnesota award its presidential electors to the candidate with the most votes nationwide. Republicans unsuccessfully tried to remove that language from the bill.

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Advocates Warn of ‘Desperate’ Movement to Undermine the Electoral College

An organization’s efforts to circumvent states’ rights are “getting desperate” as they try new ways to push their interstate compact through state legislatures, two pro-Electoral College advocacy groups told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The National Popular Vote (NPV) is a group initiative to reform the U.S.’ two-step, Electoral College system by ensuring that the candidate with the most popular votes nationwide becomes the president. Now that NPV has enacted its interstate compact in all of the “easy,” bluer states as a standalone bill, it is getting creative to force the law through in swing states like Minnesota, Nevada, Michigan and Maine, Trent England of Save Our States and Jasper Hendricks of Democrats for the Electoral College told the DCNF.

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Election Transparency Initiative Denounces Marc Elias’ Requested Change to Electoral Count Act Reform

A right-leaning election reform outfit on Wednesday denounced the current version of legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act, particularly a provision urged by Democratic election attorney Marc Elias. 

The original act was enacted in 1887 to prevent presidential election crises such as that of 1876, during which three states submitted competing groups of electors, forcing Congress to determine how to resolve the count. Ultimately Republican Rutherford B. Hayes emerged victorious over Democrat Samuel Tilden. 

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Commentary: Manchin-Collins Bill Would End the 1887 Electoral Count Act’s Provision of State Legislatures Choosing Presidential Electors

Legislation offered by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) would repeal Sections 1 and 2 of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, and replace the appointment of electors by state legislatures in the event a state fails to make a choice in that election under current federal law to “the executive of each State”.

3 U.S.C. Section 2 currently states, “Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.”

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House, Senate Panels Start This Week Considering Changes to 135-Year-Old Electoral Count Act

House and Senate committees starting this week will begin work on measures to change how U.S. presidential election votes are counted and certified – including possibly amending the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act and clarifying the vice president’s role in the process.

The House Rules Committee will take up a still-unseen, bipartisan bill Tuesday titled the Presidential Election Reform Act with a floor vote as early as Thursday, according to Roll Call.

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Commentary: The Left Only Sees Success by Altering the Rules of Governance

Court packing—the attempt to enlarge the size of the Supreme Court for short-term political purposes—used to be a dirty word in the history of American jurisprudence. 

The tradition of a nine-person Supreme Court is now 153 years old. The last attempt to expand it for political gain was President Franklin Roosevelt’s failed effort in 1937. FDR’s gambit was so blatantly political that even his overwhelming Democratic majority in Congress rebuffed him. 

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Commentary: In 2022, Voters Must Stand Up to America’s Uniparty Empire

If we follow the conventional political thinking, Republicans can anticipate an electoral shift during the November midterm elections and appear likely to recapture the White House in 2024. A grassroots revolt is already showing signs that the Democrats should expect to be punished for politicizing education and mismanaging COVID policy.

If we follow the conventional thinking even further, this will spell success for a usual cast of Republican-leaning characters in leadership and consulting roles. Karl Rove is likely already updating his fee structure. Veterans of the two Bush Administrations will send their résumés east in hopes of retaining old posts so they can steer contracts and favors back to their allies and former employers.

Right, Left, Right, Left, the hypnotic rhythm drums on—briefly interrupted only by an aberrational Trump Administration or popular uprising—but it all returns to the statists’ status quo in the end. The uniparty simply shifts its weight from its left foot to its right while business proceeds as usual.

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Trump Blasts Pence’s Claims About January 6: Vice Presidency Not an ‘Automatic Conveyor Belt for Old Crow Mitch McConnell to Get Biden Elected President’

Former President Donald Trump released a blistering attack Friday afternoon on former Vice President Mike Pence’s claims earlier in the day about the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress over which Pence presided at which Electoral College votes submitted by the states were counted.

In a speech before the Florida Chapter of the Federalist Society in Orlando on Friday, Pence asserted, “There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to ‘overturn the election.’ President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.” (emphasis added)

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Commentary: The Wall Street Journal’s Shabby Rebuttal of Trump Settles Nothing

President Trump’s October 28 letter to the Wall Street Journal detailing some of his complaints about the 2020 election and the Journal’s editorial comment on it the following day clearly reveal the shortcomings of both sides of this argument. But the important thing to note is that there are two sides to the argument over the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election result.

The prolonged and intensive effort in which the Wall Street Journal has eagerly participated, to suppress and throttle the merest suggestion of illegitimacy surrounding the 2020 election result, has failed. It has always been understandable why there would be a great body of opinion that would wish to suppress any consideration of the question. It is a sobering and demoralizing thing to imagine that the vastly important process of choosing the president of the United States could possibly be an erroneous or even a fraudulent process.

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REVIEW: Hemingway’s ‘Rigged’ a Bone Chilling Page-Turner About the 2020 Election

Person with mask on at a computer.

We are a year overdue for the true story of the 2020 elections. Mollie Hemingway has at last delivered it to us in one tidy volume.

It’s a complex story, which makes for a weighty book. The research is thorough, the writing is evidentiary, the style is clinical—like investigative journalism and social science used to be. The endnotes alone run nearly 100 pages. 

Reading Rigged, one isn’t jarred by hyperbole, conjecture, or spin. Hemingway is unequivocal on progressive malice, yet she can be scathing of Republicans, too. She is particularly critical of Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to publicize fraud nationally, thereby undermining prior case-by-case efforts to get particular state courts to recognize particular violations of particular state laws. 

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Commentary: Ground Zero of Woke

Many of our once revered and most hallowed institutions are failing us. To mention only the most significant ones: our top-ranking military echelon, the leadership of our federal investigatory and intelligence agencies, the government medical establishment—and of course the universities.

For too long American higher education’s reputation of global academic superiority has rested mostly on the sciences, mathematics, physics, technology, medicine, and engineering—in other words, not because of the humanities and social sciences, but despite them. The humanities have become too often anti-humanistic. And the social sciences are deductively anti-scientific. Both quasi-religious woke disciplines have eroded confidence in colleges and universities, infected even the STEM disciplines and professional schools, and torn apart the civic unity of the United States. Indeed, much of the current Jacobin revolution was birthed and fueled by American universities, despite their manifest hypocrisies and derelictions.

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Majority of Michigan Republican Legislators Oppose National Popular Vote Proposal

Rep. Matt Hall and Senator Aric Nesbitt

A proposal to force Michigan’s presidential electors to cast ballots for the national popular vote winner — regardless of the results in the state — is meeting opposition from a majority of Republican legislators.

State Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) and state Rep. Matt Hall (R-Marshall) spearheaded the effort to collect 57 signatures from legislators opposed to the idea. According to the Detroit News, 17 of the 20 Republican senators and 40 of the 57 Republican representatives signed on in opposition.

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Sen. Hagerty Calls for ‘Changes’ Following January 6 Report

Bill Hagerty

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) called for security changes — recommended by a January 6th report — to be implemented in order to prevent a situation similar to that day.

“The committees have laid out what happened and what should be reformed or reconsidered. It is now time to implement appropriate changes to make sure all relevant agencies are prepared to prevent an event like January 6 from happening again,” Senator Hagerty said in a statement.

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Representative Cohen’s Resolution to Abolish Electoral College Moves Slowly Through House

Steve Cohen

Representative Steve Cohen’s (D-TN-09) initiative to abolish the electoral college hasn’t progressed much since it was introduced back in January. The last action on the resolution occurred early last month, when it was referred to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. No dates are listed to consider the resolution, though Cohen is the subcommittee chairman.

Other members of that committee are Vice Chair Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Henry “Hank” Johnson (D-GA-04), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Cori Bush (D-MO-01), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18), Mike Johnson (R-LA-04), Tom McClintock (D-CA-04), Chip Roy (D-TX-21), Michelle Fischbach (D-MN-07), and Burgess Owens (D-UT-04).

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Commentary: House Republican Leader Supports a Democrat-Backed ‘Popular Vote’ Scheme

In 2011, before serving for the House of Representatives’ 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), current chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, was a national spokesperson for the National Popular Vote initiative, legislation that forms a state-to-state compact with other states agreeing to pledge their state’s electors in the Electoral College to the winner of the national popular vote once participating states reach 270 electoral votes.

This would effectively eliminate the current winner-take-all system in the Electoral College, which has been in place since the election of 1824, whereby whoever wins the popular vote in a state wins the state’s electoral votes.

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Virginia Democrats Introduce Bill to Select Presidential Electors by Popular Vote

Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates have introduced a bill that would allow presidential electors to be chosen based on the national popular vote, as part of a broader push among left-leaning activists to end states’ rights to choose their own electors. 

“Every American citizen is created equal,” Del. Mark Levine (D-Arlington), who introduced HB 1933 told The Virginia Star. “We should all have an equal right to elect the President of the United States.”

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Exclusive: Wyoming State Senator Explains His GOP Primary Challenge to Rep. Liz Cheney

  A Wyoming Republican state senator told the Star News Network why he is challenging his state’s only Member of Congress and the most senior House Republican, Rep. Elizabeth L. “Liz” Cheney in the 2022 GOP primary. “Liz Cheney’s long-time opposition to President Trump and her most recent vote for Impeachment shows just how out-of-touch she is with Wyoming,” said state Sen. Anthony Bouchard in his Jan. 20 announcement of his candidacy. “Wyoming taxpayers need a voice in Congress who will stand up to Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, and not give them cover.” Bouchard’s 6th State Senate District is just east of Cheyenne, the state capital. The owner of a septic tank and system cleaning service, first won his seat in 2016, after his first two tries in 2012, 2014. The businessman, who founded Wyoming Gun Owners in 2010, said he has never met nor supported Cheney. “Before she entered into Wyoming politics, Liz Cheney founded and led a group called ‘Keep America Safe,’ an organization that peddled deep state misinformation,” he said. “I never supported her, nor did I vote for her.” The House hopeful said when elected, he would utilize the skills he learned as a gun…

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Capitol Police Say Four Dead, 52 Arrested at Wednesday’s Massive ‘Stop the Steal’ Rally

Washington, D.C. police announced Wednesday that four people died during riots following the Stop the Steal rally on Capitol Hill.

Rioters stormed the United States Capitol building Wednesday, committing acts of vandalism and postponing the certification process as members of Congress were forced to evacuate the building.

Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, authorities have made at least 68 arrests, police announced Thursday. Five of these arrests were for illegal possession of firearms, and two people were arrested for other weapons, police said. Police also said they arrested 28 additional people for violating curfew.

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Senator Kelly Loeffler Reversed Decision to Object to Electoral College Results Following Capitol Riots

Senator Kelly Loeffler reversed course following the riots at the Capitol, accepting rather than objecting as promised to the Electoral College certification. Her acceptance of the results also followed her projected loss to Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock in their runoff election.

Loeffler shared that the protestors who breached the barricaded Capitol grounds and infiltrated the Capitol itself were the reason why she changed her decision.

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Commentary: An Electoral College Challenge Is Imperative

Predictably, after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ten GOP Senators announced their intention to reject electors “not lawfully certified” but nonetheless included in the Electoral College results, many Democrats accused them of “sedition.” In reality, these Senators and their House counterparts are duty bound to object. The cowardice of Republican legislatures in disputed states, dereliction of duty by the courts and the dishonesty of the “news” media has forced them to take action. Congress has the final word on who won the presidential election when they convene Wednesday to certify the Electoral College results. That certification vote is the last opportunity for our elected representatives to resolve allegations of illegal election activity in November.

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Three Keys to Understanding Senators’ Proposal to Audit Presidential Election

In a move that isn’t without precedent, 11 Senate Republicans are pushing for a special panel to investigate questions of fraud arising from the presidential election. 

Some conservatives oppose such objections to the election outcome, in which former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, claimed an Electoral College victory of 306 votes to the 232 garnered by President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. 

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In Past 20 Years, Democrats Objected Three Times to Electoral College Certifications

Recent precedents for challenging Electoral College certification in Congress have come not from Republican lawmakers, but from Democrats. 

Over the past 20 years, Democrats have on three separate occasions objected to the validity of electoral votes on the floor of Congress. Wednesday, Jan. 6, will mark the first time Republicans choose do so in the past two decades. 

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Virginia Governor Candidate Kirk Cox Reportedly Says Biden Will be Next President

GOP candidate for governor and Virginia State Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) reportedly said Tuesday he does not stand with Republicans in Congress who plan to object to the Electoral College votes and that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. 

Cox’s reported comments were shared by Daniel Grimes, a reporter and weekend anchor for NBC29 in Charlottesville, in a post on Twitter. 

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Ohio Republican Senator Does Not Support Group That Plans to Challenge Election Results

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman said Monday he will vote to certify the president elections when Congress meets in joint session Wednesday, saying he does not support a group of Republican senators who plan to challenge the results.

The group of 11 senators it will reject electors from disputed states and has called for a commission to hold an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns from those states. They also want the disputed states to hold a special legislative session to certify votes in a manner consistent with the findings of the commission’s audit.

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Commentary: The Most Important Week of the Century

Three big things are happening this week that could decide America’s fate. First, a run-off election in Georgia on Tuesday for two U.S. Senate seats that will determine the balance of power in the Senate. Second, Congress meets for a joint session on Wednesday to formally count the votes of the electoral college. And third, Americans from across the country will rally in support of election integrity on Wednesday on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Here’s a quick look at all these moving parts and ways you can make a difference in the saving America from a Marxist-Socialist takeover.

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Vice President Mike Pence Welcomes the Efforts of Representatives and Senators to Object to Electoral College Votes

  In a statement Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement through his Chief of Staff Marc Short that he welcomes the actions of some members of the House and Senate, who say they will object to the final certification of the Electoral College vote on Wednesday. “Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election,” Short said, according to a tweet by The Epoch Times’ Alex Salvi. He added, “The Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on January 6th.” https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1345516490846576641 The move comes as news of as many as 140 Representatives and 12 Senators broke Friday and Saturday. Breitbart News reported that among those in the House who have announced they will object to the Electoral College votes are: Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-Co.), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Al.), Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Jerry Carl (R-Al.), Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas),…

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Eleven Republican U.S. Senators and Senators-Elect Join Growing Chorus in Congress Who Say They Will Challenge Electoral College Results Wednesday

Eleven more Republican U.S. senators and senators-elect from 10 states said they will contest the Electoral College results Wednesday over fraud concerns.

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of the 11, made the announcement Saturday. Senator-Elect Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the election, is working with her in the dissent.

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Report: At Least 140 GOP House Members Plan to Challenge Electoral College Results on January 6

At least 140 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives plan to challenge the electoral vote results on January 6 when Congress meets to certify the next president, CNN reported on Thursday.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who launched the effort to challenge the “flawed election,” expressed surprise on Twitter that the number of House members joining him had grown that high.

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Representative-Elect Diana Harshbarger Joins Coalition to Object to Electoral College Results

Representative-elect Diana Harshbarger announced Thursday that she will object to the Electoral College results during next week’s certification.

“On Jan 6 when the Electoral College meets, I will join my other GOP [colleagues] in objecting,” wrote Harshbarger. “I stand for free and fair elections, and I am ready to fight for Tennessee and our Country.”

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Sen. Josh Hawley Announces He Will Contest Electoral College Certification Next Week

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Wednesday that he will object on Jan. 6 when Congress meets to certify the results of the Electoral College vote.

“At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections,” said Hawley in a statement. “But Congress has so far failed to act.”

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In Another Effort to Challenge Electoral College Votes, Rep. Gohmert Sues Vice President Mike Pence

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, sued Vice President Mike Pence in an attempt to challenge the results of some states’ Electoral College votes.

Another attempt is being made by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, who says he and “dozens” of House members plan to challenge some of the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6 when the Joint Session of Congress meets to certify the votes and ratify the president-elect.

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Two Georgia Representatives to Challenge Electoral College Votes

Two of Georgia’s representatives plan to challenge the Electoral College votes during the January 6th session of Congress. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and Representative-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) will join a congressional coalition in objecting the electoral college votes.

Hice met with the President Donald Trump to strategize their objection to the Electors earlier this week. Others in the meeting included Trump’s legal team, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the House Freedom Caucus, Greene, and several other congressional members.

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