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Hi,
The Republican Party just officially declared the January 6th insurrection and the events leading up to it as "legitimate political discourse." Then, the party formally condemned the two Republicans who serve on the committee investigating the January 6th attack.1
The Trump GOP's message is clear: white supremacist political violence is normal and elections they lose don't count. Unless Congress takes action to protect our democracy and our voting rights now, the far right is likely to try to pull off another coup in the future. We can't let that happen.
Trump has spoken about his 2021 coup attempt with unprecedented candor in recent weeks, plainly admitting his plan to have former Vice President Mike Pence certify the election in his favor. That fraudulent plan involved exploiting the Electoral Count Act — the obscure and outdated law that governs how Congress confirms presidential election results.
Now that a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to reform the Electoral Count Act, Trump is doubling down to uphold the outdated law. He's arguing that efforts to clarify the law to prevent future coup attempts somehow demonstrate that the Electoral Count Act authorized his own coup attempt last year.
"Trump's thought is this: Because one facet of Electoral Count Act reform would clarify that the vice president has no role in counting electors, this must mean Mike Pence did have the power to refuse to count them," Greg Sargent writes in the Washington Post.2
Trump is wrong, and he isn't bothering to hide the ball. He has stated outright that Pence should have "overturned the election."3
Trump's plan to get GOP legislatures to override citizens' votes in at least three states was far fetched and totally illegal, but the fact is that Trump was getting increasing support from like-minded state legislators to try to pull it off.4 We need ECA reform now — before the far-right tries for a repeat.
It's essential that the Select Committee on January 6th introduce strong and clear legislation reforming the ECA, and that Congress pass it as soon as possible, alongside the John Lewis Freedom to Vote Act. We can't risk another attack on our democracy.
Thanks for taking action,
Izzi and the team at Demand Progress
Sources:
1. New York Times, "GOP Declares Jan. 6 Attack 'Legitimate Political Discourse,'" February 4, 2022.
2. Washington Post, "As Trump rages, a plan to reform the Electoral Count Act against a 2024 coup slowly advances," February 2, 2022.
3. The Atlantic, "How Donald Trump Could Subvert the 2024 Election," December 6, 2021.
4. CNN, "Trump lawyer's memo on six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election," September 21, 2021.
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